


Life Looks Better Upside Down

by Winder



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: F/M, Ghost/Hunter AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 56
Words: 227,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9334961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winder/pseuds/Winder
Summary: Danny Fenton has a secret life of protecting the city of Amity Park from ghosts with his mother, the number one ghost fighter, Maddie Fenton. Danny Phantom is a ghost hybrid with an over protective father, Jack Phantom. What will happen when Phantom develops an interest for the hard to get Fenton?





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Danny Phantom in any way, shape, or form.

Summary: Danny Fenton has a secret life of protecting the city of Amity Park from ghost with his mother, the number one ghost fighter, Maddie Fenton. Danny Phantom is a ghost hybrid with an over protective father, number one ghost researcher, Jack Phantom. When Jack drags his son back to his home town and falls for his old flame what will happen when Phantom develops an interest for the hard to get Fenton?

Pairings: PhantomXFenton, MaddieXJack, others may appear...

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 1

Danny found a tight lipped frown pulling at the corners of his lips as he pounded down on a few more keys. Sharp baby blue eyes darted over the huge screens of the computer that illuminated the otherwise dark lab with an eerie glow. File after file popped up into sight and was gone again moments later, and while it would have made any other person sick to watch Danny had become accustom to the dizzying pace years ago.

There was something that he was missing. He knew there was, he just couldn't place his finger on what it was. It didn't seem to matter how often he checked his files or cross referenced new material, he still couldn't find whatever it was he was looking for. He supposed that knowing just what he was looking for would help immensely, but unfortunately the universe didn't appear to want to grant that type of information. -And why would it? It was obviously so much more fun to watch him struggle.

Still, he had to find out just what was causing all of the sudden massive amount of ghost sightings that had been happening for the last few months. He was drawing close to the end of his rope on all of his theories but none of them were drawing any results.

When the problem had first started to show Danny and his mother had spent countless hours checking up every single hot spot they knew of. Even after days of thoroughly investigating each area they still couldn't, for the life of them, find the leak where the ghosts were slipping between worlds. The longer the problem continued to slip through. If that wasn't bad enough on its own, Danny had become floored when he realized just how intelligent they were growing as well. While he found that he quiet enjoyed the challenge sometimes it become a major nuisance.

Not to long ago in fact he'd had to fight a group on his own once they had tricked his mother and separated the two. Danny had managed to hold his own-barely-but he wasn't to thrilled with the idea of a repeated performance.

~"Danny..."~

Sharp eyes snapped from the screen and quickly fell on the bright green ear piece sitting next to a stone cold cup of coffee. When he sat up to snatch up the transmitter he could feel just how sore and stiff his body had become. Letting out a long groan he rubbed the kinks out of his neck, reaching out for the item with his free hand.

"Please," he mumbled, moving his hands up to rub the burn from his eyes, "tell me you guys have some good news." Without even realizing it he found that he'd slumped forward, his head resting heavily in his hand.

~"Sorry man."~ Tucker's voice gave a slight echo in his ear as he spoke. ~"We've looked everywhere Danny, but we can't find out anything here."~

~"No one I've asked has seen anything either."~ Sam's voice cut in.

Danny groaned and dropped his head down onto the built in keyboard. When the computer screeched at him in protest he slowly lifted his head to see what he'd messed up. When he saw that it was just a few easily fixed files, he quickly typed in the correct information with a few swift clicks. Once he was finished he pressed the palm of his hand against his tight lipped mouth and than drummed the tips of his fingers against the steel table in thought. After a few minutes of silence, and no new information, he quickly shook himself out when he realized he was seconds away from falling asleep.

Another terrible side effect of all these ghost breakouts; he was getting next to no sleep.

"Okay guys," he tried to cover the sleep in his voice with a dull tone as he flopped back in the swirling desk chair, his eyes already scanning the screen without thought, "thanks, but I think we should call it off for the night."

The line on the other end was silent as he waited for their reply. Although he could bet that he already knew what they were going to say.

~"You're going to get some rest too right?"~ Sam asked.

Danny found himself chuckling silently, picturing the skeptical look he knew that she would be giving him if she was here.

"Of course." He lied as he rubbed at his eyes with thin fingers.

He really needed to eat more...

~"That's what you said last time Danny."~ The voice of Tucker scolded. ~"And than you collapsed during your update from exhaustion remember?"~

"It was just one time." Danny argued back giving a roll of his eyes. The moment allowed him to catch something and made him lean forward. When he realized that it was just a smudge on the screen he gave yet another roll of his eyes. For a split second he'd thought that Technus had hacked into his computer. Again.

"~Yeah, one time this week.~" The low growl in Sam's voice was even more intimidating with the fact that it was right in his ear. He almost felt like he could feel her right behind him with a can of knockout gas.

"~Yeah, seriously man, you need to sleep.~" Tucker put in while Danny pressed a hand to his mouth to stifle an on coming yawn.

"And I will," he promised, "just as soon as I find out what's going on. My Mom's been stressing out about this one big time. It's starting to really get to her."

"~You'll be useless to her if you can't keep your eyes open when she really needs you.~" Sam pointed out evenly.

Danny opened his mouth, ready to defend himself from her accusation, only to quickly snapped it shut when he realized that she was right and that he couldn't think anything to say otherwise. As much as he didn't want to admit to the fact, his friends were right. If he could figure out what was going on, if the answer jumped at him all of a sudden out of nowhere, he was to tired to do anything.

Maybe he could go on just a little bit longer though. Maybe...

A scream almost tore out of his throat, only to be muffled when a hand was quickly placed over his mouth. Just as he made a move to struggle, to get out of the grip of whoever was holding him, his chair was spun around with a snap. It was jerked so quickly that his whole body was nearly pitched over the side. By the time he could gather his barrings around him again he found himself looking up at the smiling faces of his two best friends.

"Wow, you're jumpy." Tucker snickered as he patted Danny's shoulder, as if to apologize for the sneak attack.

Sam didn't bother hiding her smirk at all. "You were so about to scream like a little girl."

Danny couldn't help the frown that he shot to the two for their little joke. He hated to be startled at the best of times, and if they were here to try and force him to get more sleep well, that wasn't going to happen. His body was pumped full of adrenaline now, and even though their actions had annoyed him, he couldn't find it in himself to be mad. Instead a small smile soon worked its way over his slightly chapped lips against his will.

"How did you guys get here so fast?" He questioned as he forced himself to leave the comfort of his chair and to stand on his still aching feet. "Wasn't I just talking to you?"

"Well yeah," Tucker grinned as he removed the transmitter from his ear, Sam mirroring his movement, "but we were already heading back to your man. We were like, right outside your door."

"Thanks to those upgraded electrical bikes we were able to cover way more ground twice as fast." Sam grinned, twirling the strap of her helmet around her finger before resting it on her hip.

Danny couldn't help but smile at the praise of his work while he gave a nod of his head. He knew that he could get the gears to go higher with next to no strain on the riders legs, or knees. He'd started working on the project just for that kind of reason for his mother.

Having Sam and Tucker testing out the different models during their patrols had given him all kinds of feedback. After all of his attempts however it appeared he finally had one working just the way he'd hoped.

Pushing his thoughts aside for now Danny crossed his arms over his chest as he raised a skeptical brow to his friends.

"What are you guys doing here though?"

When Sam and Tucker turned to smirk at each other before turning back to him he knew that something was up. As they slowly crept towards him he felt his stomach drop.

"We're here to force you to sleep." Sam said as his head quickly snapped back to the screen.

With one hand he removed his ear piece while his other hand flew across the keys, saving any open flies before setting it to shut down.

"Insomniac Intervention!" They both yelled, jumping at him in his chair.

They all let out a screech when the old chair tipped over. Not use to having so many bodies in it, it gracelessly dumped the teens onto the ground without a single care. When they crashed into the floor Danny found himself surprised by the realization that it was a lot less painful than he'd thought it would have been. Unsurprisingly on the other hand it was very loud. For ten long, tense seconds, none of them so much as twitched a single finger. All of their ears were strained, trying to hear if they had woken up any of the other two people in the house. Collectively the each clamped their hands over their mouths as laughter erupted from the group when the house remained silent.

Danny found it kind of funny how even at seventeen they were still afraid of being scolded for waking up his mother.

Sam was the first to compose herself, easily pushing herself to her feet and than reaching out a hand for each of the boy's. Once they were pulled to their feet Danny brushed some of his raven hair out of his eyes. Deciding that he wasn't going to win this fight he nodded his head towards the closet that stood proudly in the wall next to the computer screen. The adrenaline he'd gathered before was quickly draining from his body, leaving all of his limbs heavy. Each part of him felt as if it weighted ten extra pounds, and his eyes were burning from starting at the computer screen for so long. Sleep was starting to sound really good right about now.

"In here for the night?" He asked, earning a head nod from each of them.

He allowed them to run over to the closet. He was to tried to even lift his feet to follow after them. Instead he just watched as they pulled out fluffy blankets, puffy pillows, and a few foam mats. Sam made sure to close the door before they both made their way back to Danny.

"To be honest, I'm way to tried to take all of those steps up to your room dude." Tucker grinned sheepishly as he handed over a piece of each item to the home owner.

"Me too." Danny admitted, lazily dropping his mat on the ground. A huge yawn that he couldn't cover up made its way out of his mouth before he could continue. "Thanks for all of your help this summer guys. I know that this wasn't really what you had in mind for it but I appreciate it." He said, his eyes tearing up from lack of sleep as his smile just barely reached his tired eyes.

"Oh please Danny, that's what friends are for." Sam said softly, a small smile pulling at the corners of her purple painted lips while she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Now lets head to bed. I'm so done for the night."

Danny chuckled as he dropped the pillow at the top of the mat and laid down next to his two best friends, their heads creating a small circle. He could already feel sleep pulling at the corners of his mind as he wrapped himself up in the warm confines of his blanket. He'd lost count of how many times his friends and him had done this over the years, but this summer had surely been a new record.

Although sometimes they could be a little pushy and a little bit much to deal with on the rare occasion, Danny couldn't have been happier that it had been Sam and Tucker who had found out that he was Amity Parks number one ghost hunter all those years ago. They had been the best of friends and allies that he could ever ask for and he couldn't imagine a life without them in it.

"Night guys."

"Night Danny."

With that he fell into a dreamless sleep with a smile on his face.

(***)

Danny looked down at his new home with distaste. While this town wasn't small by any means- if it had enough people in it for stores to cater to certain subcultures for young people it couldn't have been all that small- it was still a far cry from how big his last city had been.

The building he was staying in wasn't all that bad in itself. Sure there was pipes sticking through the walls, most of the drywall had long ago fallen away and the building appeared to be on its last leg, but it really wasn't that bad. He'd stayed in worse before. It was more the town itself that he had a problem with.

He'd walked their streets and been dragged to go shopping with his father to countless malls and little home owned businesses over the passed few months, but it still didn't feel like home. While he had to give credit to his father for trying to get Danny excited for the upcoming school year, he could only fake his enthusiasm around the his Dad. The moment that he had his back turned was the moment that Danny was allowed to drop his act.

The shock he'd felt when he'd gotten home from school all those months ago was still fresh in his mind. He could still remember the panic that had fallen over him when he'd seen the tears in the older man's eyes as he said that they were moving. Now at first he'd thought that his father's state was due to some type of negative reasoning. He'd thought that they had been found or that his Dad had been fired. Shock had reemerged with a vengeance when his father had said that he was asked to go back to his old home town to rejoin an assignment that he'd left years ago.

Every time that his Dad's home town had ever come up in conversation the large man had always talked about it fondly. Danny could give word for word retelling of his Dad's tales off by heart, but even at his best he would never be able to muster up as much passion for anything as his father did with even his simplest stories of Amity Park.

Seeing as how his father loved the town so much Danny could never find out why he would wait so long to go back. He couldn't understand why his father had stayed away if he'd loved it so much. Now that Danny was here and seeing it for his own the answer became very obvious, very quickly.

This place was a ghost bacteria dish, and worse yet, there were hunter.

He'd seen them himself on some of his outings with his father. He'd watched them carefully and studied them, putting away bits and pieces of information for later. From what he could gather it was a young male, probably closer to his age, and an older female. From everything that he'd been able to pick up with his sensitive hearing he could tell that they knew each other very well. From watching them work together he could see that they obviously had years of training together. If he was going to have to take a guess he would say a mother/son team. Danny had run into enough of them in his years to be able to spot them, but he'd never seen ones this good before.

When they had managed to catch their ghost, locking it away in a mug like container, something that left his blood boiling to witness, neither him nor his father had joined the cheering crowd as they mobbed the hunters with screams for pictures and autographs. As far as he could see the ghost they had attacked hadn't been bothering anyone until they attacked her. He didn't cheer for bullies.

After the sighting of these two became more often than not his father had started to want Danny to stay in more.

Now, Danny wasn't stupid. He knew how to avoid both hunters and spirits. It was a skill that he had picked up to ensure his survival after all of these years, but this town was just crawling with them. They were both all over T.V, in the papers, and even had sites on the web. While some were more dedicated to the towns haunting visitors Danny was sickened to see just how much there was out there praising the hunters. Even so he could already tell that it was going to be harder to keep everyone off of his tail and he wasn't looking forward to it. He was really going to have to watch himself here.

Which probably meant that while floating above the town late at night like he was doing now might have been giving him a nice view, it was also very dangerous. He let out a long sigh as he gave a small flip of his tail that directed him back towards the apartments that he was now to call home.

His Dad had never asked much of him. Other than to do his chores and stay out of trouble the man really didn't want much. If anything he was always watching out for Danny. Always making sure that he was safe and that he was well looked after. While Danny appreciated his Dad's hard work and attentiveness he would be the first to admit that sometimes it was a little much. Still, his father had given up everything to take care of him. He even kept himself away from other people lease they realize that there just wasn't something right with his son. Now that Danny was old enough to handle his own the man was finally able to go back to what he still loved even after all of these years.

Working as one of the top fringe scientist at a world wide known collage.

When Danny had found out he'd been very proud of his father. Sure sometimes his Dad could seem a little dense, and loud, and a little blunt at times, but no matter what he said or did he was a genius and a good father. Danny wouldn't have it any other way.

Although it would have been nice to have a little bit of a saying in the matter. Not that he had any friends to miss him, or a job, something that his Dad had insisted he'd get for the summer if only to keep him out of trouble until school started up for the year, it would have been nice to at least pretend to have some control in the situation.

His attention was drawn from his thoughts at the low hum and quiet murmurer of voices drifting towards him. Without a thought he concealed himself in the shadows of a near by billboard and watched as two teens about his age rode by a little to quickly on a pair of odd looking bikes. It appeared that the hum he was hearing was actually coming from there and he tilted his head to the side in confusion. Since when did bikes hum? Or even move that fast with no peddling?

Shrugging it off as they turned down a street and out of sight Danny lifted himself into the air once more. He looped himself around a broken lamppost, looking up and down the quiet street in utter boredom before he shot himself towards the window that lead to his new bedroom with a snap of his tail.

Shifting the form of his tail into two feet he landed on the floor of his bedroom softly. The last thing he wanted to do was awaken his father and make him aware of his nightly outings. His Dad would place him under house arrest if he knew that Danny was placing himself in potential danger so carelessly.

As he kicked off his boots he managed to catch a glance of himself in his bedroom mirror. His hair, that was normally whiter than snow appeared almost an orangish sort of colour thanks to the street lamps outside. With the help of his naturally tanned skin and bright green eyes his hair would become even brighter and more noticeable. While it annoyed him to no end about how much it stuck out he knew that he couldn't dye it. Every time he tried it would stay for a few hours and than slowly turn back to its original colour. While it didn't help him blend in much no one in the bigger city seemed to care. He'd even noticed a few people at his old high school following in his footsteps after a few weeks. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could get away with it here too.

Than the only thing he was going to have to worry about were his eyes.

Danny could still recall a time when he'd been younger. He was changing for gym class and someone had thought it would be funny to turn off the lights to freak everyone out. While Danny himself hadn't cared one way or another- he could see just as well in the dark as he could in the light- his classmates has all screamed and run out of the room as if the devil had been chasing them. Danny hadn't known it at the time, but he supposed he could understand just why a pair of glowing green eyes floating in the darkness would traumatize any group of seven year old's.

Even now they were glowing. Admittedly they were duller right now thanks to the small amount of light from outside his window, nut it was still obvious to anyone who could see. Only in full light did his eyes fade and look somewhat normal. With there candy apple green however they always managed to draw in stares no matter what he did. One time he'd tried to wear contacts. To say that it didn't it didn't work out was a bit of an understatement.

It had taken him years, but Danny was really quite comfortable with his looks, and if the long list of girlfriends he'd had over the years were anything to go by he knew that he could leave people swooning. As much as he was comfortable with it though, he was starting to worry that he maybe looked just a little to ghost like.

If these hunters weren't idiots than how long was it going to take them to realize? How long was he going to be able to stay here before they realized that there was something off about him? The only real hope he had was to stay off of their radar and if they did ask, well, lie. He was a big city kid. Would it really be so hard to believe that he bleached his hair and wore coloured contacts? Or maybe he could just tell them that he had some form of albinism?

Sending a wink to his mirror image he turned his back on it and made his way over to his bed. Hovering over it for a few seconds he dropped himself with a huge huff.

The only thing he had going for him was his lack of green or blue skin. Thanks to his Dad he at least wasn't oddly coloured or as freezing to the touch as his fully ghost cousins. Thanks to his Mom he got a load of awesome, and some pretty interesting looks. He was just a weird in between. A freak of nature that shouldn't have existed, and honestly, he didn't have a problem with that at all.

Now if only the rest of the world didn't either.

Letting out another sigh Danny roller over to his side and tried his best to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 2

Danny waved goodbye to his friends with a small yawn as the two hurried off home. He knew that Tucker's parents would be fine once he told them that he'd been out at Danny's all night, but Sam's parents? They were bound to spit hellfire once they found out, and that was putting it mildly. He hoped that she remembered to lie to them this time and say that she was at Paulina's. The Manson's really approved of her.

Giving a tired chuckle at their retreating backs he closed the door before letting out another yawn. With his eyes half closed he made his way to the kitchen, his hand scratching at the back of his neck as he did so.

As he walked into the kitchen he couldn't help but smile when he saw his sister. She was shoving mouthfuls of food into her mouth while digging her nose into some brainy book that he could never hope to understand.

"Mornin' Jazz." He chuckled as he passed by their table and towards the kitchen counter.

"Good morning Danny." Jazz groaned, a sudden loud thud alerting him that she had placed down her overly large text book.

Pulling out a box of cereal and a bowl Danny chuckled. "Long night?"

"And early morning." She added, dropping her chin into her hand with a soft sigh. "Just feels like I'm never going to get ahead."

"Well school does start in another two weeks." Danny supplied as he filled his bowl. "You haven't even started your first year so I don't know why you're so worried."

"You of all people should know that it doesn't hurt to be prepared."

Giving a small nod of his head he supposed that he agreed with her. There had been countless times where being prepared for a situation he wasn't even aware of had saved his life. It never hurt to be ready for anything, but, in his sister's case? He highly doubted that her cramming in all her future studies into one summer was such a great idea. She was just going to have to go through it again once her classes started, and now listening to some old person drone on about what she already knew would send her to sleep that much faster.

"What happened to you?"

Danny quirked up a brow as he placed himself at the table. Sticking his hand into the dry bowl he tried to figure out what she could have been talking about.

"What do you mean?"

She raised a finger to her own face, circling it once before she tapped on her cheek. "You've got really dark bags under your eyes and you're paler than normal."

"Oh." His concern fell away as he popped a few pieces into his mouth. "You know, normal summer hunting stuff." He mumbled.

"Yikes." Jazz winched, "you might want to tell Mom to lighten up your workload than."

Danny just chuckled with a small shake of his head. In all honesty he was use to the heavy summer load. After all, since he no longer had school or projects to worry about it made sense that he should turn more of his attention to protecting the city from the nasty spectators that slimmed their way into this world. This summer there had just been way more.

Now that he was thinking about it too he was probably wasting time here when he could have been working on figuring out the problem. He hadn't seen Jazz a lot this summer though, and if he was going to take a break by sleeping for five hours he was sure that staying here and talking to his big sister was just fine with him too.

"I'll be fine Jazz." He said, waving her off as he snapped up a tiny handful of his food. "Thanks for worrying about me though."

"No problem little bro."

They fell into a comfortable silence. It was clear that they were both to tired to try and make up small talked, so they didn't bother. Instead they just enjoyed each others company. Danny didn't mind at all, he was happy enough to allow his mind to wander. For once not thinking about ghosts, or inventions that he made up to defeat them, or weapons that had to be upgraded. Just once he was allowed to think of normal teen stuff. Like, what he was going to do once he graduated? Who was he going to be taking to Junior Prom? Or what new games were going to be coming out soon?

Well, actually, he already had all of those answers to that stuff now that he was thinking about it. He was going to follow his mother's field of study. Junior Prom was no doubt going to be filled with ghost activity so he'd be on patrol. And even if he did figure out the game titles it's not as if he would ever have enough time to play them with all of his work. Ya, he really didn't have to think of these things, but it was still fun.

When a small hand landed on his shoulder Danny nearly jumped a foot out of his seat. He did end up choking on his dry mouthful and had to steal Jazz's orange juice to make sure his stellar ghost hunting memoir wouldn't end with him being killed off by cornflakes.

As he placed the now empty cup down he took a glance over his shoulder to see his mother standing behind him. Although her lips were pinched in concern he could see the playful amusement in her eyes as clear as day.

"I'm sorry Sweetie." She giggled, moving her hand up to run sharp, but gentle fingers though his hair. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Giving the older woman a somewhat sheepish smile back Danny simply waved off her concern.

"I'm fine Mom, don't worry." He reassured her. "So what's up?"

A look of shock flashed over her face, but in a moment it was gone as she threw her head back with a light pitter of laughter.

"Oh my poor baby." She cooed, wrapping him up in her surprisingly strong arms. "I've been working you to hard this summer haven't I?" She continued with a sigh, stroking his hair softly.

Through the space just above her arms Danny shot his sister a pleading look, begging her silently for help. The evil witch however just snickered at his misfortune and continued to watch the scene unfold.

Their mother quickly pulled back and squished his face between her hands. "Have you forgotten? We made plans to run over to the deli this morning for breakfast."

Oh ya. He had forgotten about that. Danny was tempted to face palm the kitchen table, but he knew that it would only result in one of two things,

His food would get everywhere.

His face would really hurt afterwards.

Or really, a mix of those two things. He supposed he couldn't get one without the other. Anyways, he couldn't believe that he'd forgotten. They had been planning this for awhile after all. Just one morning where they set aside their work, well most of it, and just relaxed.

"I'm sorry Mom, it did slip my mind." He admitted. "I'll run up and get ready."

He snatched up his bowl as he spoke, quickly setting the items aside or away respectively. After he was done he dashed up the stairs and made his way into his room. He threw or his favourite T-shirt and most comfortable pair of jeans, plus a fresh pair of socks before deciding that a hairbrush wouldn't hurt. As he made his way back down the stairs he took them two at a time and smiled at his mother who was already standing by the door with a set of keys in her hand.

It sucked that Jazz wouldn't be going with them, but although Danny had forgotten the plans he could still remember asking her. She had declined on the grounds that she had really wanted to finish up some demanding online course that she was taking, but it would have been nice for all three of them to go together. He couldn't really recall the last time all three of them had hung out like a family. Than again Jazz had never been into the whole ghost thing. While she loved their gadgets and looking over their blueprints, she left the actual job to them.

"I'd like to go over some ghost tracking plans today." His mother said while walking out the door. "It occurred to me that if we cant find out where they all seem to be slipping in, we could track down where the most ghost activity is taking place and see if that's where they're all coming from."

Another reason that Jazz probably refused. She was smart enough to know that their minds didn't stray from their work for long.

That's actually not a bad idea." Danny mumbled while he was handed over some files he hadn't even noticed that she'd been holding.

He quickly flipped through some of her basic ideas, a few graphs, and a few models, and slid into the passengers side. Carefully he placed the plans back into the peach coloured file as she pulled out of their driveway.

They both fell into silence, more than contempt with saying nothing until they would arrive at the deli. The closer they drew to their destination however the more Danny couldn't get a question to stop nagging the back of his mind.

"Do you think that Katie is going to be there?" When a frown twitched at the corners of his mother's mouth, he highly doubted he was going to like her answer.

"I don't know sweetie. Her fall was pretty bad, the poor dear."

A wave of guilt washed over him and he turned his face to the window so he wouldn't have to face his Mom. Katie had been one of the nicest, and admittedly oldest, at Kats Deli, until her accident that is. Or at least, that's what everyone thought. Danny knew better. Her tripping down the stairs like that had nothing to do with accidental causes. She'd been pushed. Of course his mother would never know that, she couldn't see Young Blood.

He really had tried to stop it. He really had tried to warn Katie about the young, trouble making ghost behind her, but she'd just thought he'd gone mad. Young Blood knew that there was no way Danny would be able to leave behind an injured human, even if it meant that he had to let the ghost get away, and the little prick had in fact been able to get away. In Danny's mind however that stupid spirit of a menace had just signed his own sentence. Danny would destroy him once he got a hold of him again.

While he wished this was something he could tell his mother, she hadn't believed that there were ghosts out there that could hide themselves from certain kinds of age groups. In her mind that was giving them way to much credit and intelligence. Danny had learned to keep these sorts of things to himself.

"She might have just ended up retiring after that Hun." His mother sighed as he sank in his seat. "After all she is seventy five."

Giving out a small hum in agreement Danny continued thinking. It was going to be weird not seeing her there. Kats only had about five upfront employees, and none of them had changed since he'd started going there almost ten years ago.

"Don't be shocked if she's not there Danny, and don't get moody if there's a new worker. I know how you are with change." She chirped as they slowed to a stop at a red traffic light.

Giving a roll of his eyes Danny dropped his head into the palm of his hand. He was sure that if she hadn't come back they would have hired someone new for the summer. Whoever it was going to be they would have already been working there for a few months. Coming to that realization floored Danny in thought. Normally during the summer they would try and take a break from work and go out to eat at least once a week. The fact that they were only making it out now was actually quiet a shock. He was going to have to take his mother out more.

(***)

"Oh stop it you." The older woman giggled with a blush as Danny winked at her.

Placing her food before her with a flourish he couldn't help his cheeky grin. "I'm sorry but I have to call them like I see them, and you, my Queen are a rather rare gem."

"Leave me you sliver tongued trickster," she said, shooing him away playfully. "I need to eat my meal in peace."

With a small snicker of his own Danny gave a low bow to her before tipping his cap.

"M'lady."

She gave a large roll of her eyes at his antics, but he could tell from the smile set over her face that she didn't mind. Stretching his arms over his head as he walked back to his place behind the counter, Danny couldn't help the small grin over his lips.

He was almost going to miss this place when school opened up again. It really was the perfect little place to work. Open every morning at seven, closing at five every night, four on weekends and he got every Sunday off since the whole store was closed. They even allowed him to come in some days and be dish boy for a little extra cash. The clientele was pretty great too. Most of them were well into their senior years and he much preferred working with that than people his own age. The older people fell for his charm and his cuteness way easier than his own age group did. Besides older people left more and bigger tips. He didn't classify it as mean spirited to use his advantages on them at all, because even if he didn't get anything out of them he still got them to smile and laugh. All in all, this part of moving here hadn't been so bad.

"You sly dog." Trisha smirked as she gave a poke to his side with a very well pointed nail. "She never smiles at anyone and you got her to laugh. How did you do that?"

Batting her hand away Danny shot her an innocent grin. "Just being honest."

"Honesty would be calling her a bitter old bat, not a Queen you player."

Danny's mouth fell open in mock horror as he brought his hand up to his heart and faked a look of hurt over his face.

"Player? Why I never." He pouted while she just chuckled and rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm going to fill the coffee in the bakery. You stay here and take care of anyone ordering breakfast, but don't forget that they..."

"Can still order sandwiches and subs but not soup." He smirked with a playful eye roll. "I know. You've only been drilling it into my head the last few days."

She gave him a gentle swat to his arm, but didn't bother saying anything as she slipped out from behind the counter of the deli and walked over to the other side.

Flipping the top of the counter open he quickly scanned it, checking for anything that needed to be filled or freshened up before the lunch rush. He'd already finished everything else. There wasn't much work that had to be done honestly and he was always pretty fast. As much as he loved this place and was going to miss it, he wasn't going to miss all of the standing around he was doing while waiting for people to come in.

Sighing in defeat he crossed his arms over his chest and looked over the area at the few tables that were filled. Out of sheer boredom he started a list in his head of things that he had already finished this morning, hoping he'd be able to find something that he might have missed. With his mind completely zoned out, he didn't notice the soft chime of the door and the set of two voice carrying in from outside. He also didn't pick up on the sound of sharp heels and heavy boots, clinking and thudding their way over to his part of the store.

It was only when one of them let out a loud gasp that he snapped back to attention. The high pitched sequel made him jump and winced as his ears throbbed from the person on the other side of his counter.

"Danny he looks just like you!"

"What?"

Danny found himself looking up at a middle aged woman with bright red hair. She was pointing a slender finger at him with one hand while the other was pressed against her cheek with glee.

He raised a skeptical brow at he odd excitement, having no idea just how she knew his name. He rarely ever wore his name tag even though he knew he was supposed to. There was just something about complete stranger saying his name that set him on edge. His confusion continued to grow however as she bounced on her feet, apparently being to hyper to contain herself any longer. When the stranger finally did mange to realize how odd she was acting she became completely still and instead offered out a hand.

"Hello Dear, I'm Maddie Fenton." She said, a pretty smile coming to her face as her eyes gleamed with life. "You must be new here."

"I guess compared to everyone else I'm still new." Danny agreed with a small smile forced upon his own lips as he took her hand. "Danny Phantom."

Oh wow. Was it normal for human eyes to bulge that much? They looked like they were about to pop right out of her head. Even though she was on the other side of the counter Danny still gave a small jump when she slapped her hands on the counter and quickly turned to her companion.

"You even have the same name!" She exclaimed while he fought back on covering his ears with his hands.

He didn't want to be rude to a paying customer but she had the pitch of a two year old during a tempter tantrum. His ears were pretty much ringing for her giddy excitement. One of the things that sometimes sucked about being a ghost, super good hearing. He hadn't quiet figured out just how to control that yet.

Trying to distract himself he turned his attention to her silent tag along and felt his jaw drop. His mind just blanked out on him for a few seconds and as he stared back at a face that mirrored his own he could tell that their mind hadn't been working since they got to the counter.

She wasn't kidding when she had said that they looked like one another. Other than the fact that this kid was a little paler, something Danny found to be ironic considering he was the ghost here, and had blue eyes and black hair, all of their features matched. Even their hairstyle was the same. Had his Dad had twins and just never told Danny about his long lost brother that went missing at birth or something? No, that wouldn't be right. Maybe he'd been split in two or the lab had made a clone of him all those years ago that they were raising in normal society. Whatever the reason it was really weird and starting to freak him out just a little bit. This must have been what normal humans felt when they ran into ghosts.

Collecting himself first Danny shook off the shock and and gave his clone a lopsided smirk as he crossed his arms and placed them on the counter.

"It's almost like looking into a mirror." He chuckled.

"Um, yeah." His doppelganger mumbled as he crossed his own arms over his chest, eyeing Danny as if he'd done something wrong. "Are you just filling in until Katie gets back or are you ere for good?"

Katie? Danny found the smile slipping as his features took on a look of question. He tried to place the name that he was given to someone who worked here but he couldn't remember. Sure he was bad with names but he wasn't quite that bad. He didn't remember being introduced to anyone named Katie...

His fingers snapped as a large smile bloomed over his face. "Oh Katie!" Now he remembered! He hadn't met her but he sure had heard of her. "I've never met her before, but yeah, I heard that she wasn't going to be coming back."

His news did not seem to sit well with the kid. A scowl crawled over his face and maybe Danny was just seeing things but was there a bit of guilt in there as well?

"I see," he said slowly. "Thanks."

There was a story there. He could read people well enough to know that much. As badly as he wanted to pry though he didn't really know this guys and it wasn't his place to ask. Besides, if he wanted tips from these two he was already strongly striking out with the younger one.

"So what can I get for you two?" Their earlier conversation had come to an awkward standstill and at this moment Danny just wanted to get back on the ball again. Seeing his double threw him for a bit of a loop but he had ghost powers. There wasn't much in the world that truly surprised him.

Pulling out a pen and a pad of paper from his apron pocket while flashing the older woman the most adorable puppy look he could muster, Danny allowed them to look over the menu that was laid out on the counter.

"I'm going to have the breakfast buddy, and Danny what would you like?" She asked as the white haired teen raised his brow again.

"Um, I'm not eating."

"Oh no sorry sweetie!" She giggled, moving one of her hands over to gesture to her companion while she spoke. "My son's name is Danny too!"

Oh, well that explained how he thought that she knew his name. Still, this was just getting weirder and weirder. It was one thing to share the same face as someone, but now they also had the same name? It was like the world had set them up for some kind of screwed up cosmic joke. Now all they needed was the same birthday date.

"Um, alright so, Danny than." He said, working up a smile as he turned to the teen. "What would you like?"

The only thing he was greeted with was a skeptical glare. He had no idea what this kids problem was with him, he was being friendly. From the way that this guy was watching him and his tone though he might as well have been the one who personally hurt this woman he'd been asking about earlier in order to take her job. Honestly he was just trying to be nice.

"Are you wearing contacts or something?" The raven haired male asked, completely ignoring Danny's question to ask his own.

"Ya sure." Danny deadpanned, staring blankly at the guy. Maybe he'd get the hint and just order already.

'Danny' or Fenton as Danny was going to label him in his head to keep things from becoming confusing, finally relaxed as he sighed and gave a shrug of his shoulders. He finally dropped his glare from Danny to stare down at the menu list before he stood up straight and brought his eyes up to lock with bright green orbs.

As their eyes locked Danny felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of him. His breath caught in his throat and his heart was beating so loudly he wouldn't be surprised if they could hear it across the store. The blue of this guy's eyes were other worldly. Danny had never seen such a shocking mix of blues all in one place before. It was like looking at the deepest parts of the sea while seeing the brightest parts of the sky at the same time. He could feel the intensity that this guy no doubt carried in everything he did burning into him even from their distance. It was intimidating and for a terrifying moment Danny couldn't help but wonder if this guy knew. If he could see what Danny was, if he could see what he was hiding. The very thought made his palms sweaty and set his fight or flight instincts on edge.

Just as quickly as that thought entered his mind, it was gone at the sound of Fenton's voice. It was clam and soothing. It didn't carry a single hint of malice or rage to it. Oddly enough Danny could even feel his cheeks go warm listening to it. That had never happened before. Sadly he didn't get enough time to wonder why it even happened in the first place as the moment was over and he found himself standing there stupidly blinking at the two with a blank notepad in his hand.

"Um, sorry but I didn't get that." He mumbled out, now feeling his face go red hot in embarrassment for daydreaming when he should have been listening.

The other Danny, Fenton as he reminded himself, frowned before he bothered to repeat his order.

"Two sunny-sides with bacon and white bread. Gottcha." Danny said as he quickly scribbled down both orders before spinning around to face the open window that lead into the kitchen. Slapping the paper down on its silver surface he could already hear the ruffling of newspaper as the chef set it down. "Order!"

Snatching up two sets of utensils and some condiments he turned back to them and quickly rang them up on the cash. He let them know that he would bring them their order as soon as it was finished and watched them as they made their way over to a two person table that was sitting in the back around a corner. Well, he said them, but really his eyes were only on the blue eyed boy.

What had that been about? He'd never zoned out that badly before. It was really odd. He didn't even know what to classify that under. This was truly the downfall of being part human. They always had all of these emotions that they could experience simultaneously, it was exhausting and sometimes very annoying. As a ghost the emotional part of being was easy. Generally they could feel one strong emotion and would just roll with it from there. Not that they could feel like human did, it just happened a lot less. Anger, love, hate, obsession, ect. Easy. But there were just soo many. It's not like he could talk to his father about this kind of stuff either. As great as his dad was it just just super awkward when either of them tried to bring up anything emotional, or really anything teen related. That speech on the birds and the bees still left Danny with nightmares.

Turning his attention back to the wall that the two had disappeared behind Danny couldn't help but let his mind wander as he tried to figure it out.

(***)

Danny wasn't going to lie. He'd thought that the guy at the counter was actually a ghost. His last name was even Phantom, and those eyes? Super creepy. He had a thought that maybe the guy was Amorpho trying to screw with him, but even at his best Amorpho would stay as one person for so long. If there was one thing that Danny knew about that ghost it was that it got bored quickly and was always trying to find new ways to gather attention. Spectra's little helper, Danny could not recall his name, had come to mind. The one had amazing shape shifting powers too but Danny couldn't see it working in a deil. The thing had way to much of a superiority complex, it would see the job as something below itself. God did ghost ever tick him off.

His mother on the other hand didn't seemed to think anything of it. In fact she thought that it was really cool how similar they looked and that they shared the same name. It didn't stop Danny's own suspicions. While the guy looked strange however he just seemed to human, and that's the part that was stumping Danny. This guy, Phantom for simplicity sake, just oozed an air of mistrust and something mysterious. It made him wish that they had chosen somewhere to sit were he would have had a full view of what the guy was doing. This was their first meeting though, so maybe he was just being to hash and paranoid. Than again, being paranoid had saved his life more than once before.

"What do you think about that Danny?"

His mother's question made him blink as he stared at her before smiling sheepishly.

"I'm sorry could you repeat that?" He asked. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she busted out laughing.

"Oh! You and the other Danny could be twins!" She giggled as some of the papers slid off the table when she accidentally swiped at them when trying to wrap and arm around her stomach.

Face burning in embarrassment Danny couldn't help but grumble under his breath as he bent over to pick up the fallen papers. He blinked when one of the papers was snatched up before he could grab a hold of it and his head snapped up to see who had taken it. He felt his heart stop when he saw Phantom looking over the paper with their plates in his other hand.

He quickly stole the paper back, pretty much having to rip it from the others grip before he managed to shove them all back into the file. As he shot to his feet he shut it with a snap. Turning back to the table he saw his mother shooting him an apologetic look from her seat.

Sure he and his mother were basically the best ghost hunters in the entire world, and he wasn't bragging about that, they had spent countless years of brutal training to claim such a title, but there was a reason that they wore masks. To have the people of Amity Park or the rest of the world knowing who they really were would be a huge annoyance at the best. At the worst it... would not be pretty. Besides, he saw every day what people did to those they said that they admired. They weren't left alone and couldn't do anything without thousands of people screaming out their own opinions on how they should live their lives. That was not something that he ever wanted. He himself had, had to outrun rabid fan girls more than once.

But what if this guy had seen the blueprints and put two and two together? He guessed that they could always lie and just say that they were part of their engineer team or something...

"Here's your order." Danny found himself slightly taken aback at the sudden flat tone. "Enjoy."

Without another word the guy turned on his heels and headed back to the counter.

What had happened to that upbeat attitude of his?

"You think he saw anything?" He questioned as he turned back to his mother who was already taking a bit out of her breakfast sandwiches.

"I don't think so sweetie. I think you got it away from him quickly enough."

For some reason Danny couldn't bring himself to believe her.

(***)

Danny wasted no time in ducking into the walk in freezer in the back. He'd giving the Trisha the excuse that he needed to grab more cheese, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. Really he just needed a place to go to keep himself from blasting those two right off the face of the earth with a well placed plasma shot. Sealing his eyes shut tightly he leaned back heavily against the door and brought his hand up to press over his eyes.

Those people were looking at ghost tracking devices. No, it was worse than that. They were looking up how to make them, and there plans were pretty solid looking. That could only mean one thing. They were the ghost hunters that were harassing the town.

He found it bitterly ironic how the only people in the entire town that he was trying to avoid were the ones that he had to serve while they were trying to make a device to sniff him out. How was he going to stay hidden now? He didn't want to be bothered, he didn't want to bother anyone, and yet here these people were, going to track down harmless spirits back to the ghost zone when they hadn't even done anything.

Now he could understand why some of them needed to go back. Danny could still remember some run ins with bad ghosts he'd had when he was younger, he still had the scar to prove it. That didn't mean that all of them were that way though. Some of them just wanted to watch over their loved ones, if they could still remember them, or just travel the world. Was that so bad? No, it wasn't. It was completely unfair. The ghost zone sucked, he didn't blame other ghosts for coming to earth.

His green eyes flashed as a bolt of anger jolted through him. Sealing his eyes shut again he took in a deep breath as he collected himself and resealed his emotions.

Fine. If they were going to make it their business to screw around and mess up the lives of harmless ghosts that were just trying to have a good after life than he didn't mind doing the same thing right back.

Now he wasn't stupid, but he was seventeen and therefore he was young and restless. Besides, it might be kind of fun, and he couldn't wait to see just how angry he could make that Danny kid. He could also look at it as a training opportunity. They were good fighters. He'd learn to be better.

A twisted smirk made its way over his face as he dropped his hand from his face and allowed his eyes to light up the empty cooler.

"Okay guys, game on."


	3. Chapter 3

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 3

Danny placed another mouthful of soup in his mouth as he continued watching the news. So far there hadn't been anything to interesting, just a few reels of the hunters busting more ghosts. There was a few people who seemed to have noticed that their encounter with the spirits though had gone way up and a couple of people had different speculations on how that could be. While some of their theories. were way off and made him laugh, Danny also couldn't stop the rage that was slowly curling in his stomach, making the soup he'd just eaten heavy and gave him a sickly feeling.

Briefly his eyes dropped to a game consul that was set up by the TV, a case gleaming from the light that was coming from the lamp by the couch. He bought the game not even a week ago. It was one of the new releases, but he'd found himself becoming bored of it quickly and hadn't bothered with it much. It was at times like these that he wished that he had friends. He was sure that the game would have been more fun to play if he would have had someone to play with.

With a long sigh he dropped his feet from the table and leaned forward in order to place his soup on it instead. He hadn't been able to stop any of their earlier attacks. Working had prevented him from just flying off and getting in their way. He couldn't just disappear and than reappear again a few minutes or hours later depending on where they were or how long the fight was going to take. He would be fired within his first time of trying. Thankfully though he was almost done with work. He had one more week at the place and than he was free to bother these guys all day long. Well, at least until school started back up again.

Clicking the TV off he rocked himself to his feet, snatching up his bowl of soup and grabbing a hold of the channel changer. He turned the TV off, done with watching the merciless hunt for now. As he made his way toward the kitchen he could hear the door to his Dad's room opening. Walking up to the fridge he placed his bowl inside before he took a glance over at the clock.

Ugh, it was only nine. What was he supposed to do for the rest of the night?

"Hello Danny!" Jack greeted so loudly that the boy was sure that the neighbours could hear it. "Did you finish your dinner? I made the tomato soup extra cheesy, just like you like it."

Giving a small grin to his father Danny gave a nod of his head.

"Ya, um, it was great, but I didn't finish it. I put the rest in the fridge for later."

He didn't want his Dad to see that he hadn't finished it and think that Danny didn't want it. His Dad had been making all of his favourites for the past few months, almost like he was trying to apologize for moving them without much notice. Danny had tried to tell him that it was okay, he'd even tried to make a few himself but somehow the man always beat him to it.

"I think I'm gonna head out."

The words had left his mouth before he could even think about who he was saying it to. He regretted his choice to tell his father what his plans were the moment that his eyes went wide.

"I don't think that would be a good idea son."

Oh great. He should have just waited until his father had headed back into his office. It would have been so much easier to slip out if he had just kept his mouth shut.

"I'll be fine Dad." He said, trying to assure the man with a small smile. "I swear I'll be careful okay?"

"Where will you be going? Are you meeting someone? When will you be back?" Jack asked, grabbing a hold of his son's shoulders. "You realize how late it is right? More ghosts come out at night and if they're out there than you know that the hunters..."

"Dad." Danny chuckled, making his shoulders intangible and stepping out of his father's hold. For a moment Jack just stood there blinking at the place where his son use to be. It was almost as if some times he forgot that Danny wasn't just part ghost but had the same powers as them as well. "I'm just going to go out for a bit. I need to stretch my legs and go for a walk. I don;t think that I've gone out to the city on my own since we moved here."

"I know but..."

"I'll look both ways before crossing the street, I won't talk to creepy looking strangers, and I'll be back before twelve." He assured him, only earning himself a frown.

"Danny I..."

When said boy arched a brow, just waiting to hear what his father had to say, the man instead let out a long sigh.

"Look, I know that you're getting older." He said, reaching a hand into his pocket and pulling out a small phone. "But I'm still going to worry about you, no matter how old you are."

He held out the device to Danny, and admittedly Danny just stood there looking at it for a moment. Finally he got the hint and ever so slowly reached for the item. As he placed it back in his pocket his father let out a heavy sigh.

"Use that to call the police if you get into trouble. Or better yet call me."

When Danny went to thank his father he was cut short as a large hand was slapped on his back, nearly sending him flying forward from the strength in it.

"Remember Danny, you might not be a child but you're no adult!" His father grinned. "And I'm bring serious about those hunters my boy!" Jack said, poking Danny hard in the chest as his face grew serious. "They're really good. Some of the best I have ever seen. You see them, you get out of their sight instantly you hear?"

"Yes Dad." Danny groaned, slipping under the man's arm as he slipped the phone into his back pocket. "I get it alright?"

Not that he didn't believe his father, but sometimes Jack didn't seem to grasp the concept that he could take care of himself just fine. He wasn't eight anymore. There was no way that he was going to allowed himself to be fooled so easily again.

"I'll be careful." He said as he made his way over to the closet and snatched out his well worn leather jacket. "I promise."

He put his hood up to cover the smirk over his face while he played with the light, allowing the darkness to swallow his features enough that no one would be able to see into no matter how bright it was outside. The most they would be able to make out would be his eyes and his teeth, and even than they'd only see his eyes if it was really dark.

"I'll be back in a few hours!" He sing sang while slipping out the door to their apartment. Not wanting his father to follow after him to either be a babysitter or say that he'd changed his mind about letting Danny go, he allowed himself to fall through the floor to the next level.

He landed just as another girl about his age was about to walk out her door. For a split second he froze. Not sure what to do or how to explain his sudden appearance. Thankfully she was looking down, but it was already to late for him to try and turn and make himself look casual. Dropping himself from his floor to this one had placed him right in front of her door, he wasn't going to be able to get away before she noticed.

He didn't even have time to go invisible, something that really should have come to mind way quicker than it had, before she looked up. Startled by the sudden appearance of a guy she'd never met before standing pretty much right in her doorway with a hood that concealed his face, she did what Danny just assumed any normal human would. She punched him right in the face.

Pain exploded from his noes outward and Danny instantly went down.

"Ow!"

"What the hell!?"

"I'm friendly!" Danny shouted, waving one hand at her when she looked about ready to give him another hit while his free hand rubbed at his noes. "I didn't mean to startle you!"

"Valerie! Is everything okay?"

Pushing himself to his feet Danny grabbed the top of his hood and pulled it down, revealing his face and showing her that he wasn't some creepy thief trying to break into her apartment. By the time he had composed himself a little bit, or at least looked about as composed as possible while holding his hand to his beat red noes, an older man had joined her at the door.

He took the few seconds that he had to look over the small family.

The girl, Valerie from what her father had called her, was about his height with soft looking caramel skin. She had nice curves and a really great athletic build. Definitely Danny's type, but from the way that her pale green eyes were glaring into him Danny could see that he wasn't going to be getting her number any time soon. She had an almost childish round face and long, thick black curls that were tied back in a ponytail and glimmered with health even in the dull light of the hallway.

Her father on the other hand stood over them both by at least half a foot. With broad shoulders and a bit of a belly Danny couldn't help but be reminded of his own father. Although his father didn't have a thick moustache over his lip like this man Danny couldn't help wondering if maybe his Dad should give it a try. It sure suited this guy just fine.

"Hi." He said, putting on his most open and friendly grin. "I'm Danny Phantom and I just moved in here with my Dad."

There. Maybe now they would just believe that he was going door to door introducing himself to everyone in the building. While it might make him out to be some type of annoying neighbour at least it got him off of the list of creeper.

"Sorry if I startled you. I was just about to knock on your door."

Well that was a lie, but they didn't need to know that.

"That's quiet alright son." The older man said, a soft smile over his face as he offered his hand out to Danny. "I'm Damon Gray."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Gray." Danny said while in the back of his mind he tried to figure out just why his daughter was giving him such a funny look.

"And this is my daughter Valerie Gray."

"Sorry about punching your face."

"I'll survive." Danny joked, finally lowering his hand as he looked at her. "But tell me honestly. Is it bad?"

She peered into his face, actually giving it a hard look before she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it looked that bad before I hit it. My punch probably gave you a bit of an improvement."

Even though her father gave a scandalized gasp, Danny found a laugh bubbling passed his lips.

"Okay, shots fired no returns." He said, bring his hands up with a shake of his head. "You got me good with that one."

"You didn't make it to hard. Pretty much walked right into it all on your own."

Oh he liked her.

"You know you look eerily similar to someone I know." She continued, squinting her eyes at him while he gave a nod of his head.

"Ya I know. A Danny Fenton kid right? I meet him today at work. It was super creepy." He admitted. "I mean I know that everyone's got at least one look alike out there in the world but I'd never thought that I'd run into mine."

She just gave a hum of agreement, keeping her gaze on him as if she wasn't quite sure that she believed him. Why she thought that this Fenton guy would lie to her and try to introduce himself Danny had no idea.

"Well, I better let you guys get back to enjoying your night. It was nice meeting you." With that he gave a small wave of his hand and spun on his heels.

He'd never really been good at exits. He never really knew what to say to excuse himself.

"It was nice meeting you Danny. I hope that you and your father like it here!" Mr. Gray yelled after him while he gave a wave over his shoulder.

"Thanks!"

Pushing open the door at the end of the hall he made his way down the stairs until he hit the bottom floor. Slipping through the side exit door he found himself out in the alley way and quickly through his hood back up.

Breathing in the cooler air deeply he couldn't stop the somewhat sharp smile from coming to his face. He didn't know if it was the ghost part of him or just a really weird human thing, but there was just something about the darkness and the night that made him insanely happy. When he tilted his head back as he made his way out of the alley he couldn't stop his twisted grin from growing even wider at the sight of the angry clouds over head. They only made the night darker and added to an atmosphere that he was happy to be apart of it.

It was the perfect night.

Call him odd but he loved terrible dark weather. It just made him feel so alive.

As he was leaving the alley he saw a wisp of breath appear before his face. Now it was cold but not quiet cold enough for there to be mist forming, which could have only meant one thing. A sudden scream tore through the night, and his thoughts. He felt his mouth slipping open as a large form fell out of the sky and crashed into the middle of the road just a few feet in front of him. It slid across the concrete, taring an angry scar into the once nicely done up road. Danny's feet moved before his mind did, and he found himself running towards the smoking figure as quickly as he could. When he got close enough he could make out that the thing was actually a guy, a guy just about his age. Crouching down next to him he reached out a hand to gently touch his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Get off of me!"

The yell startled Danny enough to make him leap back onto his feet. The man before him let out a beast of a growl while he pushed himself up.

"I am so sick of humans." The stranger growled, and even when he was hunched over and standing in a hole Danny could see just how big he was. "Shadow!"

"Whoa! Wait a..!" Before he could even finish his sentence a thick black shadow snaked out from the hole and shot itself at Danny.

He barely had time to gasp for breath before the ghost wrapped around him and squeezed. He tried to struggle, kicking his feet around wildly in hopes that it would make the thing let him go, or he even tried to yank his arms away from his sides to try and squirm out. Not a thing worked and only drew the creatures attention to his face. A black as the void shapeless face drew uncomfortably close to him and for the life of him Danny couldn't place just what type of ghost this was. He was use to human ghosts and pet ghosts, but what on earth was this thing supposed to be?

"I'm...not...human." He just managed to wheeze the words passed his lips, speaking directly to the one before him and completely ignoring the more solid figure just a few feet before him.

The other ghost let out a scoff as he floated out of the hole and brushed the dirt and rubble from his thick coat before placing his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah right. I felt you when you grabbed me. You're as human as they come." He growled.

With a snap of his fingers the creature let Danny go, dropping him to his knees while the boy gasped for air. He found himself more annoyed than fearful as the creature hissed in his face before disappearing behind its master when the stranger crouched down next to him. "As low of an opinion that the living have for us, we're not stupid. We can tell the difference."

Without waiting for another moment Danny roughly shoved against the others chest. It gave him just enough momentum to rock himself back on his feet and get ready. He'd show this guy just how human he was. Thrusting out his right hand he allowed it to fill with ectoplasum energy. It brought slight satisfaction to see just how wide the ghost's eyes got before he fired the shot to his chest. Not approving of the attack on his master Shadow let out a screech the second that the older teen fell back. Danny just managed to duck out of the way, rolling to his feet once he was far enough. Dodging the creature again he flipped into the air in order to gain a better vantage point and this time formed a giant ax out of the bright green energy before throwing it at she shifting darkness.

Shadow barely managed to dodge the attack, retreating and hiding behind his wide eyed owner while bright green eyes flashed even brighter in a barely concealed seething rage.

"Apparently you can't." He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you just go around attacking every human that runs to your aid?"

The ghost was silent, taking Danny in as he if he didn't know what to make of the being before him. While he waited for his answer he decided that now would be a good time to try and do the same.

The guy looked like a typical biker type. Fingerless gloves, long leather jacket, thick and heavy combat boots. The poster boy for Rebels R Us really. If Danny had to take an educated guess on how he had died he would have to say that it was some sort of biking accident. He highly doubted that the guy would wear a helmet, he didn't look the type, even so however Danny couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for the guy. He wondered if his family was still alive. He wondered if this guy even remembered who they were or would recognize them if he saw them.

"Humans don't run to our aid." He finally answered, his scowl set back over his face as he raised a hand to run through his greasy looking, slightly blue tinted, blond hair.

There really was no argument there. Danny knew just how welcoming people were with his kind. In this town especially it was extra bad to be 'soul surfing'. Everyone here seemed to be on team Hunter. The only ones interested in trying to see things from the ghosts side at all were more interested in running tests than keeping them safe.

Taking a look down the way that the guy had flown from Danny uncrossed his arms to place his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"Don't you think you should be... I don't know. Running or something?" He asked, allowing his feet to slowly touch back on the ground now that the guy was no longer a threat. "I mean they've got to be getting closer don't you think?"

"It doesn't matter if I run. They find me no matter where I go. I can't shaken 'em." He snarled, his lips pulling back to reveal the sharp fangs of a ghost.

Danny winched in sympathy. He figured that they had already managed to make it. He'd been watching the news just a little while ago and from their new record that was obvious. He just hadn't thought that they would be so close to his neighbourhood yet. Maybe it had been hoping against hope, but he kinda thought that he would at least have until summer was over before he had to worry about them being so close to his home.

While he was lost in his own thoughts, strangers one and two had drawn uncomfortably close. Snapping back to attention Danny took a quick step back and glared at the ones trying to peer passed the illusion of his hood.

"What are you anyways?" Stranger one asked while number two curled around his shoulders. "And why are you hiding your face? You deformed or something?"

What was it with people and insulting his looks today?

"I like my privacy." He shrugged. "Sue me."

The two glared at each other, neither willing to back down first. Hadn't he wanted to help these guys? Hadn't he wanted to try and protect these ghosts from the hunters just a few hours ago? Did he really want to help this one though? This guy reminded Danny of every guy that picked on him when he was younger. He reminded him of every bad experience he had whenever his mother tried to bring him into the ghost zone. All in all he seemed like a jerk and he could kind of see why the hunters would want to catch him. His idea of fun was probably pushing little old ladies down the stairs.

Eyeing the slightly taller male from a moment longer the younger teen let out a small sigh. Before he made an judgment he might as well ask the guy why they were after him in the first place. He wouldn't be any better than the ones he was trying ti fight against if he did the same thing as they did.

"Why are they chasing you in the first place?"

"What's it matter to you?" The guy snapped while his shadow hissed in his defence.

"Look," Danny growled, his eyes flashing once more, "I can either help get these guys off of your back, or I can continue to let them chase you down the streets in the ghost and hunter version of the bull run. Your choice." He finished, a smug grin coming to his face as he waited for the others response.

The older ghost opened his mouth for a moment before he snapped it shut. All of the fight slipped out of him with his next breath as he gave a small nod of his head.

"Ya, okay." Obviously he was at the end of his rope and Danny was his last hope. He must have seen that he really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. "I'm lookin' for my girl."

Danny raised a single brow skeptically as the smirk slid into an unbelieving frown.

"Don't give me that look man." He snapped as he ran his hand threw his hair one more time before throwing them both in the air. "I screwed up and she ran off again. I just want her back and I'm really freaking out that these guys will find her before I do! I don't want to even think of what they'd do to her! That woman and her son are crazy!"

Well, Danny couldn't deny that fact. He'd only talked to the two for a few minutes and he could tell that their obsession with hunting down ghosts was just was beyond the average enthusiast.

"Please man," The stranger begged, dropping heavy hands on Danny's shoulders for force him to look into his eyes. "She's the only thing I've got left."

That one hit a little close to home. Sure maybe he didn't have a girlfriend of his own, but he had his father, and his Dad was all he had left to. He would have had more, but hunters and researcher had made sure to shirking his family down to him and his father.

"You just go find her and keep yourselves out of trouble. I'll deal with the other two." Danny grinned, his eyes now glowing in excitement over the fight that he knew would be happening soon. Pushing himself from the ground he took another look down the road again to see if he could see them yet.

"Thanks man." The other sighed, appearing truly relived as he turned back to his pet thing and ordered it to find his bike.

Ha! He'd so called that the guy was a biker.

"Names Johnny by the way. Johnny 13."

Floating down so that he'd be at the same height as the blond Danny gave him a soft smile and held out his own hand.

"It's nice to meet you." He said, ignoring the look of confusion over the others face when he didn't give his own name.

"You don't got a name or something?"

"Not one that I can share."

If he could help it he was just going to remain nameless. The ghost in the Ghost Zone that knew about him wouldn't be to happy to find out what he was doing. The last thing that he wanted to worry about was them showing up to tell him that being half and half was 'against the rules' or wrong in some way. Dropping his name would have been a really stupid idea.

"Not gonna lie that's a bit weird man." Johnny said as he took the boy's hand in a strong grip and gave it a firm shake. "Maybe I'll see you around though Hood Head."

Hood Head? Well, maybe Hood would work. Kinda like that guy from that story who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. In Danny's case it was lives rather than money and making sure that the living didn't get them so that the dead could continue to wander but, sure, it could work.

When a butch looking motorbike morphed out of the the ground from what appeared to be a black tar pit, Danny couldn't stop his eyes from going wide at the sight. He wondered if he could do that.

"If you do, bring your girl next time." Danny said, watching Johnny as he climbed onto the seat of the monstrous thing. "I'd like to meet her just in case this ever happens again. That way I could help you find her.

Johnny let out a sharp bark of a laugh as he threw his head back, Shadow joining him while he floated next to his master.

"Yeah, I don't think so kid." He smirked before giving a two fingered salute and reeving up his bike.

Danny slapped his hands over his ears as Johnny took off like a bat out of hell, or a ghost out of the ghost zone, the shadowy creature not far behind.

"Charming guy." Danny mumbled to himself as he watched the blue form disappear.

His distraction cost him the first move of the fight however when a sudden and sharp pain exploded against his elbow and shot up his arm. He let out a startled yelp of pain before he could stop himself as he clamped a hand down on his wounded arm. Whipping his head around to see who had shot at him he found his lips pulling back to form a snarl at the sight of the ones he'd been waiting for.

He'd seen them before of course. They were everywhere after all and he'd seen them from a distance a few times while he was out, but they were close enough now that he could really see them clearly. The female, Maddie as he remembered, wore an aqua coloured jumpsuit. It had black accents, the gloves, the shoes, the belt, but the goggles over her eyes were an off looking amber colour that wouldn't allow him to be able to see into her eyes. In fact the only part of her that he could see was where the suit left her mouth open. Her son, Fenton, wore much the same thing, but white where her's was blue, but he also chose to stick with black accents. Why he would ware white in a job where he was going to be getting constantly dirty Danny had no idea, but he was more interested in the smoking muzzle of the gun that the kid was holding than his choice in field operation clothing.

The rage stirred in his stomach as his ghostly half snarled at the two, it's dislike of being attacked making itself well known for the two to see. His eyes flashed again when they took a step closer and peered at him like some strange specimen.

He'd seen them fight other ghosts with his own two eyes before, but jeeze. Did they always attack first and ask questions never? How on earth was that fair? Than again they were hunters. The only thing that they wanted was to wipe the world of anything they thought didn't fit. If it ruined their 'perfect' image of a 'perfect' world than it had to go. After all, it was easier to just try and get rid of the things that they didn't know than to try and understand them.

"What on earth is that?" Maddie questioned as his teeth seemed to sharped while they pulled back into an evil grin.

"Um, a ghost?" Fenton responded, his eyes darting in between the space from the ground and the tips of Danny's feet.

Danny could understand their confusion however. His body didn't give off that 'ghostly' glow, and he himself wasn't blue or green and his clothing looked normal. By all means they would have mistaken him for a human and been half right if it wasn't for the fact that he was hovering a good two feet off of the ground.

Fenton's mother on the other hand took the news well enough as her gaze did a quick scan of the area.

"What about the other one?" She asked, looking around once more before she glanced down at the object in her hands.

Zeroing in on the object in her hand Danny shot a small ray at her and couldn't help but feel a small sense of satisfaction in himself when she gave a startled yelp and the item blew up into a million little pieces. Although he did blame his human half when a small part of him felt bad for scaring her. They were obviously in the wrong. He shouldn't care.

"Hey!"

He ducked out of the way just in time to avoid another well aimed shot before jumping further into the sky as he grinned down at the two. Briefly he wondered if he should try and move the fight further away from his apartment just in case his dad heard and came running out screaming about protecting him or something. However his father was working on this or that for the collage for the time being and whenever he got lost in a project half the building could be taken out and he wouldn't noticed.

"Watch your aim Hunter!" Danny taunted as he formed his legs into a wispy tail and allowed it to swirl around behind him as he snickered at the two, distracting them and giving Johnny more time to get away. "You wouldn't want to destroy your little town even more would you?" He asked as he nodded to the street and the giant hole in the building that had just been caused by the boy's gun.

A small curse slipped passed the boy's lip's that made his mother gasp and whack his shoulder with a scowl before she whipped out another weapon from a pocket in her belt as she took another stance.

"Just stay where you are you ectoplasm scum of spiritual human consciousness!" She hissed, snapping out a long fishing rod with light green glowing wire.

The ghost raised his brow at her for a moment, wondering what she was hoping on doing with that thing. She swung it around her head and Danny yelped when the wire tied around him and tightened almost ridiculously tight. His eyes widened when he tried to go through it only for it to fail and instead leave him trapped. What was this? Since when couldn't he go intangible?

A scream tore pass his lips when he was shot again, this time it hit him in the centre of the chest and sent him flying back hard into the road, snarling when he rolled over the uneven rubble from when Johnny had landed. He tried to ignore the fact that he would no doubt be bruised up bad later but he thanked his 'ghostliness' for having the ability to be able to heal quickly. Still though he rolled to his feet and tried to jump out of the way of the next shot but the female gave a swift yank on the rod and he was knocked down to the ground again, his face eating the concrete without his hands being there to stop his fall.

"And I actually thought you'd put up a fight." The other Danny scoffed as the sound of a faint click made the teen ghost shift just enough to be able to see what they were doing.

A low growl slipped pass his lips as he eyed the strange looking thermos that was being pointed at him but he knew he didn't like the look on either of their faces when they both turned to each other.

"Should we even bother reaching this one? Or just throw it back?"

Throw it back? He wasn't some piece of garbage or something. They couldn't treat him like this! It wasn't fair! Just like it wasn't fair for them to go after Johnny when all he was trying to do was find his girlfriend and bring her back home before these two could get their hands on either of them.

They just wanted to go home...

The rage that had been coiling inside his chest all night finally erupted throughout his entire body. With the new wave of energy he didn't bother on trying to phase through the ropes. Instead he settled for destroying them. The wire broke with a loud snap and he wasted no time in getting back on to his feet. Once there he flipped back into the air just as Fenton took another shot at him.

That gun as really starting to tick him off.

With a little more flare than was needed Danny managed to get right up close to the two hunters. Try as they might to avoid him and pull back he still managed to corner the smaller of the two and happily twisted his tail around the annoying object before smashing it against the ground. More as an afterthought than anything Danny slipped his arms under Fenton's and than clamped them tightly over his chest. His grin widened at the startled scream that filled the night air as he pushed away from the earth and took off into the sky.

"Is this enough of a fight for you Fenton?" He chuckled, not missing the way that the boy gripped his forearms for dear life, afraid of being dropped at any second, which was surprisingly tempting.

Danny had never really wanted to hurt a hunter before. He'd never really had a reason too for the most par. They had all been to stupid and harmless to be able to do much but be an annoying source of amusement. These guys though? His face stung, his sides were sore, and his chest burned from where that blast had hit him. They could hold him with a strange looking fishing rod device and could trap him in some thermos looking container. These guys were serious. If he wasn't carefully they might just end up dissecting him like some sort of high school biology class. He was going to have to do a little more research on them before he tried to play with them again.

As he flew higher though he noticed the boy had stopped struggling completely and instead stuck to barely breathing as he clung to the arms wrapped around his front. The mother was yelling back up at him but Danny knew they were empty threats, she would never do anything with her son in harms way.

"You guys 'protect' Amity Park and all it's citizens right?" He asked, a thick tone of mockery lacing with his words as he let the boy go, almost cackling when Fenton screamed in panic, clawing at the empty air before Danny grabbed both of his hands. He made sure to hold them at the wrist so Fenton wouldn't slip out of his grip.

Bringing his body to be vertically with the earth his bright green eyes seemed to shine out of the blackness of his hood as he pulled the boy closer, until their faces were only inches apart while the other teen tried desperately to being them further away while not making the other let go.

"Well get this Hunter," Danny purred as his smirked deepened. "I protect the ghost of Amity Park now. Whenever you guys decide to mess with the others, be prepared for me to show up to stop it."

"Not if I get you first!" Fenton shouted while he tried to bring his forehead up to smash it against the mirror image's. "Say what you want but you're still a ghost! And I will hunt you!"

Danny almost dropped the raven haired male with that one. Wondering why his face felt so hot all of a sudden he looked down pass his victim to see that his mother was riding on some sort of snow board looking device he'd never seen before and decided now was as good a time as any to bow out.

"I'm looking forward to it." He grinned before he finally released the boy.

Danny's sharp scream filled the night air but thankfully was stopped abruptly as he was caught by his mother.

"See you later Danny! Bye Maddie!" He chirped before turning his body invisible and disappearing from their sights.

He watched as the two hunters shared another look before they scanned the air, looking for any trace of him.

"Are you alright Danny?" Maddie asked, placing her hands on either side of her son's face before he could shake her off.

"I'm fine Mom." He sighed, pulling himself out of her hands before his eyes scanned around the area.

Danny had to cover his mouth to hold back his laughter as he was right in front of the guy's face.

They didn't look around for him to much longer, accepting the fact that they wouldn't be able to find him. So instead his mother tipped the board, leading them into a skilled nose dive and getting them back to the ground quickly.

"I've never seen that one before, or anything like it really. It must be new around here." She mumbled, almost as if to herself while they jumped off of the board.

Floating right next to her Danny decided that he would stick around for a little bit. After all, this was probably the best way to find intel on their enemy. Straight from the source. Besides, they'd thought he'd gone and Johnny was far enough away by now, and they didn't have a tracking device. All wins.

"He knew are names." Fenton pointed out while his narrowed blue eyes turned to the skies as if he thought that Danny would pop out of nowhere there. In reality however Danny was making faces at him right in front of him. "We've never told our names to anyone other than Walker. How did he know what they were?"

"Perhaps the word is spreading." Maddie said, a smile blossoming over her face. "Do you know what this means Danny?" He asked as she took his face in between her two hands again.

For a moment Danny had thought that she was talking to him, but than he remembered the clone thing. Was this ever going to get confusing or what? How on earth did twins do it? Oh wait, they had different names...

"Um...no?" It wasn't much of an answer but Danny felt as if he'd say the same thing if he was in Fenton's place, so instead he just stood by and waited for her to continue.

"He knows our names and he's new! This must mean that the fear of tangling with us has gotten around the Ghost Zone! Soon they'll be to scared of us to even think of coming back!"

Danny's eyes narrowed at that as Fenton smiled at his mother with a small shake of his head. As they continued to talk about what they were going to do next, he stopped listening. Her words were sinking into his mind a little more, taking root with a life source of bitterness. She was right, he had found out about them since he was afraid of what they would do if they ever caught him. He'd heard about them from all over the papers and the TVs, he'd learned very little from talking to actual ghosts but since Johnny had been the only one he'd seen so far that he'd actually been able to talk to he guessed it wasn't that strange. Still, he didn't want them to have to live like this. Just waiting for these people to hunt them down and drag them back to that place? Why not just let them go back when they wanted?

As much as most ghost didn't like it, the zone was their home and they would always return at one point or another. Coming to earth was like a ghost version of a human vacation. One that these two seemed hell bent to ruin.

If she thought it was fascinating that he knew her name, he was going to love that he was interested enough to find out everything else about them too. Where they lived, where they worked, where they went to school. Who were their friends? Were there any other family members? What did they hate? What were their fears? How did they work? He was going to find out everything about these two that he could. He was going to find every open wound and poke and prod until it was festering.

"I guess we're going to have to make a new one." The young male sighed as he scooped up the remaining pieces from the tracking device that Danny had all but disintegrated.

Danny had to bite his tongue in order to keep himself from muttering a witty remark, after all he might have been invisible but that didn't make his voice anymore silent. He watched as the two shook their heads at their destroyed creation before they headed back from the way they'd come. Figuring now was as good a time as any the snow haired teen pushed himself off of the ground once more and took to the sky.

There was no needed to follow them right now, they were done for the night it seemed. However that didn't mean that he couldn't find out anything from any lingering ghost anyways, after all they didn't sleep and he didn't need much of it. He halted in his direction though as a sudden smirk came to his face while he looked over his shoulder at the two.

He didn't need much sleep, but they sure did, and from the way they were both walking he could tell that a bed was probably more on their minds rather than any sort of plan to fix the tracking device. Why not have a little fun with them? After all a tired opponent wasn't much of one.

Snickering inwardly the dived towards them, stopping and floating mere inches behind them as he shoved his hands into the deep pockets of his leather jacket. Loving the way they were completely unaware of the fact that they were going to be leading an enemy right to their home.


	4. Chapter 4

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 4

"Wow you look awful."

The amount of satisfaction in that one statement was enough to make Danny want to rip his hair out. After two days of almost non stop treatment like this he was about ready to strangle the spirit that had followed him and his mother home. He had no idea just how they had been so stupid as to allow it to happen, but it had, and now they were stuck with this guy it seemed, and he didn't appear to have anything better to do with his time than to make their lives a living hell.

All he wanted to do was get some cereal and maybe try and sneak in a nap some how. He was going to die of sleep deprivation at this point. Or at least it felt that way. Oddly enough though the ghost had left his mother alone for the last few hours, and hadn't bothered his sister at all. If that was because he could tell that his sister wasn't apart of their ghost hunting group and because he wasn't that cruel as to keep someone of his mother's age up for days on end he wasn't so sure. It almost felt like giving him to much of a heart and as a rule, ghost didn't have those. They didn't care about the living anymore than they cared about one another.

"Go away."

Although telling the other that hadn't worked the first few hundred time, Danny still gave it a shot whenever he could. Maybe one of these times the guy would finally get the hint and leave him alone. Sure he knew it would have been a better idea to lock the guy up in their Fenton Thermos, but the pest of a ghost had broken that pretty much as soon as he got here and Danny never had enough time to make a new one. That and whenever he tried the guy always found them and smashed them to bits. If this was going to keep continuing he was going to have to get help. To bad that the only person he knew that could help them was their Uncle, and he wasn't going to be back in town for at least another few months.

"Aw, don't be so mean." The ghost snickered, somewhere to Danny's right.

Just as he was in the mist of an eye roll Danny found a sudden and sharp scream taring passed his lips as an entire bowl of ice cold water was dumped over his head. For a moment he stood there, completely frozen to the spot. His heart hammered in his chest as his breath came out in short bursts. When he could finally manage to move again he whipped around and glared at the source of laughter that had finally become visible.

"You're dead." He snarled.

The ghost only gave him a smirk before he took off out of the kitchen and the chase was on.

(***)

"Can someone get that thing to shut up!"

Had he not been thinking something along the same lines Danny would have been shocked at his mother's use of language. With it being three in the morning however and with screams that were so loud they had to cover their ears and shout to one another he wasn't to surprised. There were deep bags under his mother's eyes, and even now she looked as if she was about ready to fall asleep on her feet regardless of the noise. Although her face was twisted into an odd mixture of rage and exhaustion Danny highly doubted he looked any different.

It was moving on to night four now and he'd only managed to have about three hours of sleep in little bursts.

Giving the fact that Jazz hadn't made her way downstairs to ask them what was going on he figured that somehow the ghost was keeping himself from being heard in her room.

"Can you stop it please!" Danny yelled into the air, not knowing where the ghost was or if he'd be heard.

When silence fell on the room with such a sudden start they bother found themselves looking at one another. Had that really worked? Was that all he needed to say?

(***)

"You sure you shouldn't be trying to sleep dude?"

Danny could barely keep his eyes open as he heard Tucker questioning him the moment that he'd opened his door. Even when he had his eyes open the whole world would shift and spin together in a weird vortex of colours, so he was mostly just getting around the house by placing his hand on the wall and feeling his way around everywhere.

"'m trin' somethin'." He muttered, his words thick and slurred as he waved Tucker into his house. "Jus' 'ome."

"Ah, okay?"

It felt like it took forever but he managed to make it upstairs to his room with Tucker not to far behind. Once he burst through the door, pretty much falling through it really, he stumbled over to his bed. Lazily he waved a hand over to his TV, trying to tell Tucker that he could play it while Danny was sleeping but he didn't give him much else to work with as he crashed on top of the sheets.

It had been a week since he'd been able to sleep for a full three hours, he was only hoping that the ghost wouldn't try anything with Tucker here. It didn't seem to like bothering people that hadn't done anything and as far as he knew the ghost kid had b=never seen him and Tucker working together.

Still, for the first few tense seconds he was laying down he waited to hear screaming, or banging, or crashing, or even feel another cold bucket of water splash on him.

But nothing happened.

With a long sigh Danny gave into the darkness of sleep.

For just a few seconds before hand though he could have sworn that he saw the kid.

(***)

"...and than Johnny got mad. I think that Kitty was just trying to make him jealous. I'm mean she's actually really cool, but I had to tell Johnny that if he wanted her to stop running off than maybe he should pay more attention to her and not to look at all the other girls."

"Well it makes sense."

"I know right?"

Danny was roused out of his sleep by the voices carrying on a conversation just a few feet away from him. With his head still full of cobwebs and his eyes layered with crust he squinted them open and tried to find the source of the noise.

He could just make out Tucker sitting on one of his beanbag chairs, a game controller in his hand and his eyes on the TV screen, but he had no idea who the other guy was.

"He still thought that it was my fault." The stranger said, waving his controller around for a moment before he continued on with the game and his conversation. "And than we got into a bit of a fight. Kitty broke it up though and gave him the warning herself. She can be scary when she's mad."

"I think that's like, a girl thing man." Tucker said, and Danny could just hear the smile in his voice.

"I mean Sam's kind of the same way. She's a really good friend but I am terrified of her when she'd angry."

"I guess it's best to keep her happy than hm?"

It took Danny an embarrassing amount of time to realize that the stranger in his room was the ghost that had been harassing them for the past week. The same ghost that was now talking to Tucker...about girls apparently... but still! It could have hurt him! Or it could be thinking of doing that once Tucker was more comfortable around him.

Thinking of nothing but the protection of his friend Danny lunged at the the ghost with no warning and slammed him to the ground.

The ghost let out an undignified squawk, but quickly went through the floor, making Danny land on his face on the floorboards not even seconds later.

"Whoa!" Tucker yelled, having at some point jumped to his feet during the commotion while Danny tried to get back up on his own. His balance was terribly off however and he found that he had to kneel for a few seconds to gather his barrings.

"How long was I out for?"

Wow, even his voice sounded terrible, all croaky and cracked. Pushing that to the side he turned to his friend when Tucker remained silent.

"Tucker." He called, seeing that the boy's eyes were still staring at the place that the ghost had disappeared though. When the other finally turned to him he asked the question again.

"Um, I don't know man. Maybe, um, three or four hours?" He said, still sounding flustered before he pointed towards the floor. "Was that guy a ghost?"

Why he felt that he still needed to ask that after seeing it with his own eyes Danny had no idea, but he gave a nod of his head anyways.

"Who did you think he was?" He asked, finally getting to his feet and placing a hand on the end of his bed for support.

"He said he was just a friend of yours. Told me that you wanted us to stay here and play games so you wouldn't be bothered by any ghosts while you were sleeping."

"Did he give you a name?"

So far Danny hadn't managed to get a name out of the other yet either. He'd been hoping that if he found one he might be able to do some research on it and find out how, when, and where this guy had died. Maybe that way he could find something to use against him and send him back.

"Well he gave me names of some people that he's met, not his own though." A gasp left Tucker's lips seconds after as a new thought came forward in his mind. "All of those people he was telling me about must have been ghosts too!"

What kind of weird ghost behaviour was this? He couldn't blame Tucker for not knowing that the kid was a ghost. Danny never would have thought so either at first, but humans don't float above the ground like that. It just came in here and started playing video games? What was it trying to do here?

"To bad he's a ghost. He was actually a pretty cool guy. And I was kind of glade that you had a friend that you could just hangout with completely unghost related." Tucker admitted. "How long has this been happening for?"

"About a week." Danny said, his eyes darting around to see if maybe the ghost had come back. "He's been keeping me and my Mom up, making us to tired to go out there and do our jobs. He also smashed our first ghost tracker and whenever we try building a new one he breaks it."

"What about Jazz?" Tucker asked, raising a brow in question while Danny shook his head.

"He leaves her alone. She doesn't hunt ghost so he doesn't bother her. I think he's targeting me and my Mom specifically for that reason. He calls himself the Ghost Protector."

"Not the most original name." Tucker said. "Well why didn't he bother me? I help you with your ghost hunting job."

"Ya but I figured that he'd never seen you helping me before. Looks like I was right." Danny said, dropping himself back on his bed. Three hours was not enough sleep. "Were you guys just playing games the whole time?"

"Pretty much."

What on earth was going on here?

(***)

Danny didn't have enough energy left in him to even so much as lift a hand to shoo the ghost away when he appeared in their lab the following day. If he was going to be completely honest he hadn't even known that the guy could wander around randomly with the screaming going on. But he supposed that ghost could curse objects to do what they wanted, so why would it be any different than cursing humans to hear whatever it was that it wanted as well.

His mother had yet to notice the ghost in her presence. She was hunched over her worktable, trying to draw up some plans for something she was calling the ghost shield. Danny had never thought that they needed one before but he was starting to like the idea more and more as the days went by.

He watched as the ghost gaze a weird wave of his hand and the screaming stopped.

His mother let out a relived sigh and promptly fell asleep against the workstation.

Knowing that he didn't have enough energy to move her or even grab a blanket he instead turned his attention back to the ghost that was making his way back up the stairs.

"Wait."

His voice was barely there, and it was a struggle to bring it anything above a whisper. Somehow the ghost heard him though and came to a stop as he looked over his shoulder.

"Why aren't you attacking us?"

The question had been bugging him since this whole thing had started. They were to tired to fight back, they would have been all to easy to take out over these last couple of days. So why wasn't it taking its chance?

He didn't respond though, simple giving Danny a smile full of sharp teeth and disappearing from sight.

(***)

The next time Danny found him he was already in his room, sitting on one of his beanbag chairs and wiggling a game in his hand.

"Wanna play?" He asked, his smirk apparent even though Danny couldn't see the rest of his face.

He had no idea how the ghost did that or why, but it never seemed to matter how much light was there he could never see into it. He was starting to think that even if he used the worlds brightest flash light it would reveal nothing. It was like looking into the dark abyss. Like walking out into the night... actually...

"What are you doing Nights?"

The new nickname left the other tilting his head, his smirk disappearing into a confused frown as he lowered the game into his lap.

"Nights?" The ghost echoed, whether it was distaste or fondness Danny couldn't find it in himself to care.

With a shrug he dragged his feet over to the other beanbag chair and flopped down in it unceremoniously.

"You won't tell me what your name is so now I have something to call you other than ghost."

"Nights." He repeated again, and Danny found his eyes wandering to the other tiredly as the smile crawled back on his face. "I like it."

"What do you want?" He might as well have come right out and asked. This guy wasn't going to give him anything without making it seem like pulling teeth.

"To play this game." Nights said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Staring down at the game that was held out before him again Danny gave a quirk of his brow.

"How did you even get that? It's only a few weeks old."

"Doesn't matter." The other said, his smirk coming back full force as Danny caught a quick flash of bright green eyes before the darkness returned. "You wanna play?"

His body moved before he could even think of what he was doing. He was just so angry at this point. So beyond rage or trying to dress it up with other pretty words. All he knew was that he was getting sick of this. He was getting sick of this guy coming here and yanking him and his mother around like it was some sort of game and than pulling stunts like this. He didn't even realize that he'd grabbed a hold of the other and slammed him into the floor until he could feel the other struggling back against him.

"Stop fooling around!" He hissed, not knowing what to do once he finally got a hold of the other. It's not like he'd sat down and prepared a speech but it would have been nice. "What do you want from us? What makes you think it's okay to come and here and act like we're friends? We're not friends!"

"Obviously!" Night snarled and before Danny knew it he'd been flipped over and Nights was in the air.

He could see just how agitated the other was now, his eyes kept flashing in and out of sight as he glared at Danny.

"If you didn't want to play you could have just said so!"

Danny just managed to catch the game before it hit him in the face. By the time he could look to where the other was again he was already gone. Staring at the space in confusion for a moment he than turned his attention back to the game in his hands. It didn't have the protective plastic on it anymore, but it didn't look like it had been used much either.

He could remember playing games with his friends. They all had a blast whenever they managed to steal a few hours to remind themselves to be kids, and more often than not Sam and Tucker would force him to play if only so he didn't shrivel up and die right in front of them. He could still remember the conversation that Tucker was having with Nights when he woke up. He could remember them talking about some people, Johnny and Kitty was it? But he hadn't really felt from his tone that they weren't friends in the way that Tucker had implied. If anything he figured that maybe the were just acquaintance.

Did ghost even have friends? Did they even need them? He'd never thought to ask before.

Staring down at the game in his hands Danny felt all of his anger from before snuffing out and being replaced with guilt. He guessed that they were enemies, but that didn't mean that he couldn't at least tolerate the guy when it was off time. Besides, he left Jazz and Tucker alone, and seemed to know just when to stop with his mom. Maybe playing one game wouldn't be so bad.

Besides, that didn't mean that when Danny wasn't out working he couldn't still kick the guy's ass.

(***)

When Night showed up the following night Danny just tossed a controller at him. That night it wasn't howling or freezing cold water that kept Danny awake but the competitiveness of a young, headstrong male who refused to lose.

He lost anyways.


	5. Chapter 5

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 5

"Hold on a minute son."

Danny froze with his hand on the door handle as his Dad's voice called from the kitchen. Reluctantly he turned to see his father walking out the doorway, a mixing bowl in his hand as he gave a pointed look to his son.

"Where are you heading off to?"

To a hunter infested house to bother a mom and her son and break all of there stuff so that they can't go out and hunt down the ghost that live in the town.

"Just off to work." Danny said, nodding his head to the door while he turned the handle. "So, you know..."

"Oh ya. Your work." Jack said, a smile stretching over his face as he finished walking out of the kitchen and down the small hall. Danny had no idea why but something felt very off the closer that his Dad drew to him. "You know Danny that's funny that you should mention that." He said throwing his free hand around his son's shoulders. "You left your lunch here yesterday,"

Oh no...

With his frown returning to his face Jack continued. "So I stopped by your work..."

"Okay I lied!" Danny shouted out, raising his hands in the air in defence before his father could rip his head off. "But I wasn't doing anything bad Dad I was just..." What would a teenage boy try to hide from his father? "I was hanging out with Valerie."

As soon as he said the name Danny tried to think of where he'd gotten it from. It took him longer than he'd ever admit but eventually he remembered that it was the name of the girl that lived just downstairs.

Jack stood there for a moment. He stood there staring at his son for so long that Danny actually found himself becoming uncomfortable.

"You mean Damon's daughter?"

Blinking in shock Danny brought his gaze up to meet with his father's. How on earth did his Dad know about them? As far as he knew he didn't really leave the house. He was to busy working on some sort of project of his for the collage. When did he have time to go and introduce himself to the people who lived in the building?

"Uh, you know them?"

It was a really stupid question, but Danny asked it anyways. Apparently his shock also made him pretty stupid.

"Of course!" Jack shouted, slapping a heavy hand on Danny's back before letting him go.

Danny was knocked a little bit forward, nearly falling over due to the force before he managed to right himself. Did his Dad realize how strong he was or did he do that just because he was a little peeved? It was really hard to tell with the giant smile on his face but he guessed that one could never really know.

"I've run into them a few times when you were at work. Very nice family, and she's a very pretty girl."

That he couldn't tell his Dad two things about. Why hadn't he been smarter and given his Dad the name of someone who didn't exist? Let alone live in his building. He should have said some other name and said she lived across town. He'd pretty much just signed his fate. How was he supposed to tell someone he didn't even know that he used them for fake plans since his father would put him under house arrest if he found out the truth. Actually screw house arrest. Jack would have them move into the middle of nowhere. Danny was just starting to like this place. He didn't want to go anywhere else.

"Well why don't you bring her around for dinner?"

"No!" His voice was loud enough to startle them both and no doubt be heard by the neighbours. Slapping a hand over his mouth he tried to come up with some excuse as to why he wouldn't want her over before he forced a smile over his face. "I mean you know that would be really weird. We just met and started talking so you know, I wouldn't want to spring anything on her." He said, earning a nod from his father. "Besides we were... going to go out for dinner."

"And you were heading out now?"

"We were going to make a day of it." Danny lied quickly, feeling guilty for fibbing right to his Dad's face. "You know, school starts up again in a few days. We were going to go get some stuff to get ready."

And this lie just kept getting bigger...

"Oh." Jack said, tapping his spoon against the side of the bowl in thought. "Yes I supposed that, that makes sense."

Thinking that he was off of the hook at least for a little while Danny made to leave again.

"I'll go with you to pick up Valerie."

Snapping his head around to face his father fast enough to get whiplash Danny couldn't stop the startled yelp of, "What!?"

"I need to talk to her father anyways!" Jack grinned, making his way back down the hall to the kitchen no doubt to put down his bowl. "Don't worry. I won't stick around and bother you two love birds!"

Oh dear god no. No, no, no, no. This could not be happening. His luck could not possibly be that bad.

"Let go my boy."

Great.

Danny forced out a light chuckle and a grin on his face. He just couldn't wait to see what she was going to have to say about this...

"Oh? Can I..?"

"Valerie!" Danny was quick to interrupt her, wrapping her up in a hug if only so he could be close enough to whisper his next words. "Please help me out here. I'll owe you anything you want later." Pulling back he smiled at her shocked face, begging her with his eyes to play along. "Are you ready to go shopping for school supplies? Remember I'm buying lunch!"

"Uh..." She looked between the two Phantom men. Her eyes straying from Danny to Jack and back again. "Ya."

"Oh thank god." Catching what he said to late Danny shot a look at his Dad and quickly reached out to grab her wrist. "That she's ready to go so soon. Sometimes she takes forever to get ready."

"Excuse me?"

"Kay bye Dad I'll see you when I get back!"

He didn't give her any time to protest. He just dragged her out of the hall and into the stairwell. Only once they were out of sight of his parental figure did her drop her hand and the act.

"Okay before you might punch me in the face again, I'm sorry."

Really he didn't know if she would punch him in the face again, but considering that that's how their first meeting went he assumed it was a pretty safe bet. She did not seem like the type of girl that you wanted to tick off.

She didn't say anything, just watched him with her arms crossed and a skeptical look over her face. Obviously she was waiting for him to continue. Considering that he had just majorly interrupted her day he supposed that he owed her that much.

"Look, my Dad's super protective of me and he found out that I was going out when I told him I was going to work. I had to tell him something and your name was the first one that popped up in my head."

"Yikes," She said, a smirk tugging at her lips as she started on her way passed Danny and down the stairs, "you really don't know the first thing about fooling your parents do you?"

"Why do you make that sound like it's a bad thing?" Danny asked, seeing no other choice than to follow after her.

"Well I could have just smashed your whole plan." She pointed out, and Danny gave a slight pout over the fact that she was right. "But you did say that you need school supplies. Lucky for you so do I, and you said you'd buy lunch. I'm holding you to that."

"Fair enough." He agreed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Thanks by the way." He muttered as she threw a glance at him over her shoulder. "For playing along."

"No problem." She said while they fell in step together upon hitting the bottom floor.

Pushing open the door for her Danny squinted into the bright light of the day. He hadn't been out in this kind of light without his hood on for quite some time, and he couldn't really rick putting it up and having one of the hunters or one of the ghosts recognize him. So instead he merely raised his hand to create shade for his eyes as he followed her towards the town mall.

Sure he'd been out a few times with his Dad but he really hadn't been paying that much attention to the lay out. Now that he was thinking about it that might be something that he wanted to know. If he was going to be fighting the hunters on their home turf he didn't want them to corner him anywhere and he didn't just want to be blindly running with no exit plan. He was going to have to know everything about this city, just like he did with his last one.

Without being able to interrupt their sleeping today they were probably going to be back on the streets later today or tonight. Man he really wished that his Dad hadn't caught him.

"So what school are you going to anyways?"

The questioned pulled him from his thoughts and he was suddenly very aware that he had a guest with him. Now was not the time to be slipping off into lala land. He had to actually engage in conversation. Wow, this wasn't something he'd done since he'd dated that one chick back in the middle of the last school year.

"Um..." He racked his brain, trying to think of what the name was that his father had told him. He remembered that he had stared at the man in disbelief over it before they had both burst out in laughter. "Oh! Caspar High!" He exclaimed before turning to her. "What about you?"

"I go to the same school." She said shooting him a smile that he happily returned. "Maybe we'll have some classes together."

"Ya, maybe." Danny agreed.

He wasn't going to lie, it would be nice to have a friend for a change.

(***)

"Wow Danny you..."

"Don't say it." It was more of a groan than a sentence but Sam seemed to understand it anyways as she pressed her lips into a thin line.

He really didn't want to be here. If he had it his way he would have stayed at home and slept for a few hours, but his mom had told him that he needed to get his school stuff and so here he was. At the mall pretty much dead on his feet and not getting any livelier. Sure he'd managed to steal a few hours before heading out but considering his serious lack of sleep he could barely even say it helped.

Rubbing at his eyes did little to help him wake up but it did help slightly with getting rid of the blur and sleep sand.

"You know, you haven't called me and Tucker in, in a few days." Sam said as they made their way down an isle for school supplies. "Have you and your mom decided to take a few days off?"

The idea was so ridiculous that Danny couldn't help the smallest hints of a scoff spill passed his lips. He knew that the only thing that would stop his mother from working would be if she died. There was no way she would ever take this long of a break from ghosts. Even he himself wouldn't be able to take off more than a day or two. Without their hunting they were literately nothing, their lives meant nothing. This is what they did, this was what they were good at. Hunting ran in their family and it was in everything that they lived for.

"Sadly no." Danny muttered, taking a halfhearted look at a a pile of eighty sheet, spiral notebooks. Without giving a care about which colour they were he loaded them into his basket. "We just had a... have a, sorry, a problem." He yawned. "A ghost followed us home."

"What!?" The sheer volume alone was enough to send a jolt into his system and give him a good wake up. He nearly stumbled into the next row of binders when Sam reached out and grabbed him with a gentle but firm hand. "Danny are you okay? It didn't do anything to you did it? Do you guys need any help? Is there anything I can do?"

Oh so many questions. But all answered with one word.

"No Sam, to everything. I appreciate it, really, but he's really not that bad." Danny said while Tucker dropped a few bright yellow binders into his own basket.

"Ya, he even played video games with me when Danny was sleeping. I had no idea that he was even a ghost. This one is super human looking."

"What?" Sam hissed as she turned to face Tucker so fast Danny was shocked her head didn't twist off of her shoulders. "You saw it and didn't do anything?"

Putting his hands out before him in defence the tecno geek of their group took a step back. "Hey don't blame me, Danny fell asleep the moment I got there and didn't warn me that his house was being haunted."

"Okay," Sam sighed, finally dropping her hand from her best friend to pinch at the space between her eyes. "Go over the last few days with me because I'm confused."

"Alright so this is what happened," Danny started, trying to figure out the short version in his head. "while me and Mom were in the middle of hunting another ghost he appeared out of nowhere and told us that he wasn't going to allow us to do our jobs in catching ghosts anymore. Than he broke our new tracking device so we decided to call it quits for the night. He must have followed us home though because the next thing we knew when we were trying to sleep was that things in the house kept banging and breaking and than he would start screaming or dump freezing water on our heads or... I could go on." Danny said, stopping himself before he listed every single thing. "So after a few days I invited Tucker over to see if he would leave me alone if there was another civilian around since he never bothered Jazz. Turns out I was right but I woke up a few hours later to see that he was playing games with Tuck and than I attacked him, he went through the floor, you know." he shrugged, snatching up a package of pencils.

"What are you guys going to do?" Sam asked as she placed a deep purple pencil case into her own bag.

"We're making a ghost shield, that way he won't be able to get in." Danny explained, following his friends down to the next isle. "The weird thing is though, that Nights hasn't once tried to attack us."

"Nights?" Sam and Tucker questioned in unison as Danny scooped up some erasers.

"I had to start calling him something." He explained. "But anyways, we've been pretty dead on our feet the last few days. If he wanted to take us out it would have been all to easy, but he hasn't done anything to hurt us."

"That is weird." Tucker said, receiving a glare from Sam seconds after. "What? It is. I mean if he was saying that his whole thing is to protect ghosts, than why wouldn't he take out his only real threat to them when their weak? It just makes sense."

"Well whatever its reasons are you should be careful Danny." Sam said as she turned back to her friend. "Those monsters aren't to be trusted okay?"

"Agreed." And he really did agree with her one hundred percent, so why was there a lingering feeling that maybe he was wrong this time? "I'm just going to have to keep my eyes open a bit more and once we get this ghost shield up and running and get some good sleep we'll be right back out there catching...wait a second."

Had he just seen what he'd thought he had? Just as they had been passing another isle he could have sworn that he saw Nights' jackets. But why on earth would Nights be haunting here?

Ducking away from his friends for a few seconds he peered around the shelf that lead into another isle, expecting Nights to be there waiting for him with a huge smile on his face. What he got instead was the sight of Phantom and Valerie. They were picking out pencil sharpeners and each already had a pretty full basket of their own. Although he couldn't make out what Phantom was saying Valerie laughed all the same but that wasn't what had Danny's attention. It was what Phantom was wearing.

It was the same kind of jacket that Nights wore. It was old and well used, he could see that by the faded black and worn places on the elbows, near the wrists and at the bottom of the jacket. It also had the same dark grey cloth hood that Nights' jacket had as well.

So not only was this guy's last name Phantom, but he apparently liked to wear the same kind of clothing as a ghost that had been harassing Danny for the past week.

With a roll of his eyes he ducked back around before he could be spotted and quickly made his way back over to his own group.

"Everything okay?" Sam asked, a single brow raised to help highlight her question as he rejoined them.

"Ya, just thought I saw something." He muttered his shoulders drooping as he realized that he was back to square one.

If he could just find out where Nights was haunting than he'd be able to ambush the guy for once. He could even set up ghost traps and containing equipment. That would teach the pesky spectre for messing with him and his mother.

"Anything that we should know about?"

Raising his gaze to look between both of his best friends Danny forced a smile on his face.

"Nah, it's fine guys."

They didn't look like they believed him, but they had learned when not to push. Moving ahead of them Danny continued down the isle looking for the rest of what he would need for the upcoming year.

"We're going to do a portal tonight. You guys wanna tag along?"

As he took a glance over his shoulder he already knew what their answer was going to be at the smile across their faces.


	6. Chapter 6

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 6

"Oh shi..!"

Danny dove behind a dumpster just in time to miss being fried by an extoplasmic blast. His breath came out in harsh pants as he tried to peer around the corner. He just managed to pull back before another shot took off his head and he groaned at his rotten luck.

He was completely pinned down. His mother was about six blocks down trying to fight off her own ghost. Sam was dealing with rounding up all of the much weaker spirits down by the park, and Tucker was at home making sure that they were all still breathing.

"~How you doing Danny?~"

Ah, speak of the devil...

"Been better." Danny hissed, deserting his place behind the dumpster as he headed down the moth of another alley. If he was right this should be leading him back to main street...

"~Well Sam isn't going to be able to help out. I was just talking to her and she caught sight of the ghost...um Nights, he took her containment thermos and released all of the ghosts before breaking it.~"

"What!"

"~Ya, sorry man but you guys don't have anymore.~"

"Well isn't that just perfect." His voice was a low hiss out of both anger and the need to stay quiet as the ghost floated passed the alley he'd ducked into.

It seemed that his plan had failed. He'd been hoping that by giving the device to Sam, Nights wouldn't have been able to find the only containment item that they had left. He had no idea how Nights could have even known that they had given it to Sam. He'd hoped that they would have been able to catch at least some ghosts tonight, it had been so long since they had turned one back to Walker and people were starting to talk about their lack of action over the last few weeks.

"Okay tell her to head ou..."

"There you are!"

If anyone were to ask later the scream that Danny let out not even seconds later was very manly. Although if the way that Nights was laughing was any indication he obviously didn't think so. Glaring at the ghost that was floating a few inches above him the hunter gave a roll of his eyes as he turned away from the annoying little prick and turning his attention to Tucker's panicking and questioning voice.

"~Danny!? Danny are you okay?~"

"I'm fine Tucker." He sighed, rubbing at his eyes with one hand while his other was pressing lightly against the com in his ear. "It was just Nights. I don't see the other ghost around. Can you do a scan to see if you can find it?"

"Don't bother."

"Nights!" Danny barely had anytime to say the name as his transmitter was snatched from him and held in the other ghosts hands. He watched helplessly as Nights all to easily crushed the object between his two fingers before letting out a cackle of a laugh.

"Seriously Nights!?"

"Hey calm down Hunter." Nights chuckled, shifting his tail into two feet before landing on the ground.

Danny watched the transformation with rapid interest. He'd never really seen that before. Sure he'd seen ghosts with legs and ghosts with tails, but he never knew that they could change them back and forth at will.

"I just saved you from becoming a smoking pile of human flesh."

"What are you talking about?" Danny grumbled, ignoring the ghost as he turned his attention to the crushed gadget on the ground. Man, he really hoped that Tucker wasn't going to start panicking. "I would have been fine." He continued, crouching down to snatch up what was left of his only form of communication to his team. "They were nothing that I couldn't handle. Besides, wouldn't you want them to disintegrate me?"

"What? Why would you think that?"

Shocked by the honest confusion in the others voice Danny found himself looking over his shoulder to see Nights' head tilting down at him. Although he couldn't see his face he could picture the look that he was sure the other was wearing. He'd seen it enough on the faces of others to be able to recognize it from tone alone.

Even as he stood back up he didn't take his eyes off of the boy behind him. Turning around to face him properly he slowly crossed his arms over his chest.

"If my mother and I were out of your way than wouldn't your job of protecting the ghosts from us be much easier?"

Bright baby blues watched as the other tilted his head to the side, shifting on his feet as he gave a shake of his head.

"That's not the point."

The words were so low that Danny almost hadn't caught them. Not another word made it out of either of their mouths before Nights sank into the wall behind himself and disappeared.

"What?"

He couldn't think of anything else to say. What did he mean by that? What was the point of all of this than if not to get rid of him and his mother in order to make sure that his own kind was safe? Wasn't that what he wanted? Hadn't that been his plan? What was his plan than? Just what kind of game was he playing? And why didn't he attack Danny now when he had the chance? Actually now that he was thinking about it why hadn't Danny attacked Nights when he had the chance? Nights wasn't even all that prepared to defend himself against an attack. He was clam and off guard. It would have been a perfect opportunity to take him out. So why hadn't he?

If there was one thing that Danny knew it was that he was going to have to get rid of this ghost kid and fast. He didn't like being toyed with by things he couldn't understand. It was aggravating and normally lead to nothing more than him banging his head on the wall. Maybe he really should give his Uncle a call. If this continued on much longer it might lead to something he wasn't going to like. This ghost was making him start to think about his position as a hunter, and he couldn't have that.

"Danny!"

Jumping nearly a foot in the air Danny spun around on his heels to see Sam standing in the mouth of the alley. She was panting hard, proof that she had run all the way out here from the park, but her stance was still ready. She held out her ectoblaster with professional easy as her eyes darted around once she had spotted that he was okay.

"Tucker I've got eyes on him, he's okay." She panted, talking to their friend on the other line. Once she seemed satisfied that they were in no immediate danger she turned to him. "Tucker told me that your com went down." She said between heavy breaths of air. "He said that Nights was in the area and than your line went dead. What happened?"

"I have no idea." And he really didn't. He didn't understand Nights. At all.

Ghosts were supposed to be simple to understand. They were rage filled monsters that needed to be taken care of so that they didn't hurt anyone. They weren't supposed to be funny, or thoughtful. They weren't supposed to get lonely or sad. They weren't supposed to not want to kill hunters and yet in just the short two weeks that Danny had seen him, Nights showed all of these things. He had no idea what he would call their interaction just now. He didn't know how to explain it to Sam.

Deciding to stick with the basics he gave a shrug. "I was fighting a ghost, I got cornered, than Nights showed up, broke my com and left."

"Did he say anything?" Sam demanded, her dark purple eyes narrowed like the a snake sizing up its victim.

"Nothing of interest. Just that he would destroy us. You know the usawl."

It wasn't true. Not in the least, but he didn't thing she would believe the truth, and if she did she wouldn't want to hear it.

She seemed to buy it however as her whole body relaxed and she gave him a small smile.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright." She said, holstering her gun before giving him a light punch on the arm. "Don't scare us like that next time okay? Just zap that stupid thing before it gets the chance to get close."

Even though he smiled back at her he couldn't help but feel a ting of something pull at his stomach with how she had addressed Nights. It had never bothered him before, calling ghosts, it or things, but for some reason it was leaving a bad taste in his mouth this time. He managed to shake it off before she could notice as he lead them out of the alley.

"Does Tucker see any other ghosts anywhere tonight?" He asked as Sam gave a shake of her head.

"No, he said that they all just seemed to disappear. Your Mom even said that Nights blocked her blast and than herded the ghosts away from her. I don't know how its is seeming to be everywhere at once but I've gotta admit that this one might be more of a challenge than what we're use to."

She didn't have to say that twice.

"Alright. Lets call it a night than. We have to be ready for school tomorrow anyways and I don't think the teachers are gonna think to highly of us if we fall asleep on our desks within the first ten minutes."

"Good point." Sam sighed as they continued down the street and back to Danny's house. "But you're not going to be getting much sleep are you?"

He knew that she was talking about Nights. About the fact that he would be doing lord knows what to keep them awake, but for some reason he highly doubted that Nights would show himself to night. From the way that Nights had just slipped away tonight he didn't think that he would want to show himself again so soon, especially if he knew that Danny would be able to get some one on one in to ask him what he'd been talking about. The guy didn't appear to like talking about himself to much, another thing that he really didn't have in common with his fellow spooks. Most of the time Danny couldn't get them to shut up about their plans or their past lives.

"I'm sure I'll be just fine tonight Sam." He assured her, shooting her a warm smile that she returned. "Don't worry about it okay?"

"You know I worry about all of my friends." Sam said, placing a light hand on his shoulder. A second later however a look passed over her face before her cheeks went bright red and she snapped her attention forward. "Shut up Tucker!"

Yikes. What had he said to her?

"Everything okay?" Danny asked as she ripped out her ear piece and shoved it in her pocket.

"Everything's fine."

From the hiss of the tone he decided that he would live longer if he took the hint and didn't question her anymore about it. As he turned his attention to the sky the two made their way back to his house in silence.

(***)

Danny all but dropped himself on his bed. He didn't even have enough energy to kick off his boots or to remove his hood.

Tonight had been exhausting. There had been so many of them, and they had all been in different places. He'd had to split himself two different forms. Just using one was bad enough, creating two was a stretch, but having them being so far away and having to fight three different people while saving a bunch of ghosts and than once he combined himself together again all of the different memories hitting him at once was enough to leave him with a huge headache. Groaning into his pillow in order to muffle his voice so his father wouldn't hear he brought his hands up to cradle his head. Once he'd given himself enough time he rolled over on his back and stared at his ceiling.

He couldn't believe that he had school tomorrow. His head was going to hurt like a mofo for most of the morning. Being around all of those people and the teachers and, ugh, the bell, he was going to be in hell.

Squinting at the ceiling above his head, which still appeared to be obnoxiously bright despite the fact that the only light was from the lamp outside, he couldn't help but think back about what Fenton had said.

Why on earth did he seem to think that Danny wanted to kill him? He'd said something similar when he'd asked Danny why he didn't attack him and his mother at his home. He knew from first hand experience that ghosts could be violent, but that was if they were provoked. Just what did Fenton think of him? Sure Danny wanted them to suffer a bit, and he wasn't above hurting them, but he didn't want to kill them. He just wanted them to leave the rest of the ghosts alone. He just wanted them to stop harassing them until they finally snapped and fought back for themselves. He didn't want to kill Fenton, or his mother, he just wanted them to understand that they didn't have to do this. He wanted to show them that there was other ways that they could go about what they were doing.

So fine, they didn't want the ghosts in their town. Than why not just ask them to leave? They could be surprisingly reasonable at times. Sure there would be a few that would refuse, but if it got down to a more aggressive kind of nature than they could defend themselves. Not with the intent to kill the ghost or to hurt them, but just enough to give them a warning. They were already dead, was it really fair to force them to suffer for their afterlives as well?

Covering his eyes with his arm he let out a long sigh as he placed his other hand on his chest.

The dull thud of his heart beating was enough to settle his racing mind and soon enough, despite the sharp pain in his head, Danny found himself slipping into a dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 7

"Wow. Someone looks well rested."

Danny couldn't help the grin over his face as he pulled on the straps of his bag, hoisting his bag up higher on his shoulders. He'd been right when he'd thought that Nights would leave him alone last night. He hadn't seen one hair of the guy since he'd woken up this morning. Even taking a shower had been peaceful. No freezing cold water replacing his nice warm shower. Even his mom had seemed to be in a better mood this morning, chattering away about how she was finished with her blueprints for the shield and that she would be working on it while he was at school. All in all today wasn't to bad for his first day back at school.

"You know it's been a really long two weeks but I'm finally feeling like it going to get better."

"This is an oddly chipper mood for you dude." Tucker said as he punched something in to his PDA. "You sure you're okay? Nights didn't fry your brain or anything?"

"Nope." He said, his eyes closing for a moment in pure satisfaction. "Didn't hear a word from him after he broke my com. I finally managed to get a whole six hours of sleep. Didn't wake up once."

"That's actually really good." Sam said, "For you I mean. Normally you barely sleep at all."

Danny just chuckled, happy to be feeling refreshed for a little bit. As last night came back to him however his good mood was crushed as his shoulder slouched forward and the smile over his face was pulled down into a hard scowl.

"Oh ya. I just remembered. I'm going to have to track down all of those ghosts again and rebuild the thermos, again. There's also a mountain load of paper work that has to be done and we still have to rebuild the ghost handheld trackers. There is a lot of work I have to catch up on."

"Not to mention that now you'll also have to do school work." Tucker put in, earning a glare from both Sam and Danny. "Probably didn't have to mention that."

Great, just a few weeks ago him and his mother had been sitting in deli going over plans to find the source of the over run of ghosts in the town, hoping to make their work load a little lighter, and now they were working more than ever. Nights just seemed to be everywhere! Except at his house this morning, but other than that he'd almost been a constant presence in Danny's life. They hadn't managed to catch any ghosts, almost all of their equipment was broken, and now school was going to be added to his ever growing list of worries.

"I can't keep working like this!" Danny's sudden outburst caught his friends by surprise as he through his arms out, almost knocking Tucker in the side of the head in the process. "Sorry Tuck." He groaned, dropping his head into his hands as Tucker gave a friendly pat to his back.

"It's okay man."

"I just mean that this is getting so out of hand. I don't know how to make him stop, I don't even know how to catch him and he keeps undoing all of our hard work."

"He seemed harmless enough when I met him." Tucker put in with a shrug.

"Uh ya, because you've never had to fight it before. It nearly got me last night and than it let the ghosts go free." Sam said, her frown tight over her dark purple lips.

"Ya, my mom said the same thing. But she said that once the ghosts were out of her reach he simply disappeared." Danny said while Sam gave a nod of her head.

"That appears to be its MO."

"Doesn't anyone think that that's a little strange?" Tucker asked, pocketing his PDA and instead grabbing a hold of his backpack straps.

Sam gave a small, humorlessly scoff as she turned her nose up. "It's a ghost. Strange doesn't begin to cover it."

"Actually Tucker's got a point." Danny said, his finger tapping the bottom of his chin as he spoke. "I've been thinking the same thing lately. I mean come on guys," he said as he shared a look between his two friends. "how often have ghosts helped each other out and than just left once their help was no longer needed?"

Sam's brows furrowed as she thought about her answer carefully. "It is weird I'll admit, but there has to be something going on."

"Well he did say that he was the protector of ghosts right?" Tucker supplied, "Maybe that's all he's here to do. Beat the bad guy and than go home."

"Bad guy?" Danny echoed, arching a brow while Tucker waved his hands out in front of him.

"Hey I meant for him we're the bad guys. To us, we're the good guys." He quickly explained.

"Fair enough." Danny agreed. Letting out a long sigh he turned his attention back toward the school they were quickly approaching.

This conversation wasn't getting them anywhere but in circles. He was sick of guessing and not having a straight answer. He just wished he could understand what Nights was trying to get at.

"What we need to do is catch him." Sam said after a few moments of silence. "I wouldn't even bother throwing him back in the ghost zone either. I would just get rid of that one."

Danny had done it before, many times in fact.. He knew what Sam was getting at. He knew that she wanted him to get rid of Nights permanently, and even though he knew that he should want it too, he couldn't stop his body from feeling the low swoop in his stomach at the thought. It was as if he was going down the stairs and he thought he'd missed a step. He couldn't understand the feeling however so he pushed it aside. Besides, it was his job to get rid of ghosts. Ghost had powers and abilities that normal people wouldn't stand a chance against, they fought and caused huge disasters if left unchecked and they shouldn't have been here in the first place. They should learn to just stay in their zone and they wouldn't have to worry about hunters finding them and putting them back from where they came from.

He knew what he had to do. What he should do, but he still couldn't make himself say it."I'm not sure. I'd like to study this one a bit before I make any decision."

"I wouldn't do it." Tucker said, shocking both of his other friends as they turned to him. "I just mean that I actually got to sit down with the guy and talk to him. He seems really nice. It's just going to be to bad if you, you know, get rid of him." He said, "Besides, it's not like he's hurt you or your mother, and I know that he's had plenty of opportunities for that. Heck, he didn't even try to hurt me. He just wanted to play a game."

He knew that Tucker had a point. He'd noticed it himself that even if Nights put up a fight and kicked their asses, and let the ghosts go, he hadn't really done any permanent damage.

Unsurprisingly Sam was the first to speak. "Don't let it fool you Tucker. They can be very crafty."

"Well that's not a very flattering description."

All three of them jumped at the voice that seemed to come from no where and yet everywhere all at once. Coming to a halt mid stride they all looked around fast enough to give themselves whiplash as they tried to locate the source. Danny glared at the intangible figure of his least favourite ghost who slipped out of the sidewalk in front of them. Nights didn't stop until he was floating a few feet off of the ground and grinned down at the group. Danny could have almost sworn that the guy liked to float if only so it gave him the height advantage, making him appear bigger and more intimidation. Not that Danny fell for it, but he could see that both Sam and Tucker were getting a little more tense than normal regardless of Tucker's words before hand.

As Nights solidify himself once more his colours and shape became more clear until he looked like any other kid going to school. Any other kid who could fly, and could hide every feature of his face with an oddly shallow but dark hood. There had been to many times to count over the last little while about how often he wanted to rip that stupid hood off of the others head and see what his face really looked like.

Sam and Tucker took a step back, neither of them appearing to even notice that they had done the action while he crossed his arms over his chest and brought his gaze from a glare to a flat, unreadable expression. It seemed to be that the less hostile he was towards Nights the less hostility was shown back towards him. The only comfort he had from seeing Nights this morning was now he knew where he was and he knew that he wasn't off bothering some poor citizen or rallying up a ghost army.

"Nights." He mumbled in greeting.

Nights gave a small snicker, apparently still finding the name to be amusing as he tilted his head to the side.

"Miss me Fenton?" Nights grinned, all of his sharp teeth looking as if they were glowing in the abyss of his hood. He landed on the ground just a few feet before them, ignoring all of the stares he was getting from other students who were passing by.

None of them appeared to be catching on to the fact that Nights was a ghost, he certainly didn't look it, and since Danny nor Sam or Tucker were freaking out they obviously didn't see a need to panic themselves. Although Danny thought it was rather interesting on how little Nights seemed to care about all of the humans around him. Most ghosts he had known loved to pick on people when they got so much as a city block in their area.

"Oh yeah, in the whole seven hours since I've seen you last I've just about died of loneliness." He said dryly while Sam nudged his arm.

"Should I call your Mom? She might have a thermos ready." She whispered in his ear before Danny had a chance to tell her just how good this guy's hearing was.

Nights gave a hiss at her words, and with a single swipe of his hands he sent a shot straight at her feet. Sam yelped, darting back to avoid the blast as Danny lost his neutral composer and snarled at the ghost before him. As Sam stared up at Nights with wide purple eyes Danny cut in front of his friend, blocking her from the others view.

"Hey!" He snapped as the other frowned deeply, not amused in the slightest while Tucker quickly asked Sam if she was okay. "Knock it off Nights!"

"Relax," Nights grumbled, his tone thick with annoyance as his eyes glowed for long enough for Danny to see that they were being rolled. "It was a warning." His gaze flashed again, this time showing that he was glaring right at Sam as his voice grew low. "The next one won't be."

"Step down." Rolling his shoulders back Danny levelled a glare at the ghost. "Now."

There was a few tense seconds where nothing happened. Nights and Danny almost mirrored each other perfectly. Just was he was getting worried that things were going to go south Nights turned his head away with a low hiss.

"Tch, whatever." Nights said, leaping into the air and floating once more.

"You should leave Danny alone!" Sam growled, reappearing by Danny's side so suddenly that he jumped.

"You might want to lay off a little bit dude." Tucker agreed, popping up on Danny's other side.

"Ya ya." Nights said, waving them off with a simple motion of his hand. "I'm not here to argue with your sidekicks." Landing on his feet once more he stood before them as he clasped his hands behind his back. "I wanted to talk to you."

Danny held back a yelp when suddenly Nights' face was only a few inches away from his own. He just managed to hold himself back however and kept his face neutral.

"I just wanted to tell you that if you stopped hunting them, I'll leave you alone and you can go back to a normal life."

"This isn't your world anymore Nights. None of them belong here."

"Well that's my offer."

"That is so not happening." Danny said flatly while the other frowned.

"I thought I was being reasonable."

"Get the other ghost to go back and than we'll see."

"That's not happening either."

There was a low growl in the air, but Danny had no idea if it was coming from him or Nights. Just as they both opened their mouths to continue their argument they were both silenced as the sound of the bell pierced through the air.

"We'll continue this later."

"We'll continue this later." Nights said quickly as Danny nodded his head.

"Agreed." He mumbled and he didn't even bother to watch the ghost dive back into the street before he grabbed his friends wrists and started to run with them down the street.

"What on earth was that?" Sam threw in while she matched her pace to the others as Danny shot her a look of confusion.

"What do you mean?" He grumbled, giving an extra tug to Tucker to help him move forward. "Come on Tuck we're going to be late!"

"Well you guys seemed pretty chummy back there. You didn't even pull out any weapon on him."

"Yeah well I'm tired of having them broken on me." Danny said truthfully as they finally reached the school gates. "And you should know that, that stuff doesn't work on him." He said as they continued running to the school steps. "Hi Lancer." He yelled as he passed his old English teacher. "Bye Lancer!"

"No running in the halls!"

(Ghost)

Danny let out a sigh of annoyance as he walked into the school with his bag slung over his shoulder. Well he hadn't really wanted to start the day like this. Thanks to his late night outing last night and all the energy he'd used as well as the splitting headache he still had this morning he had overslept. It was only thanks to his Dad that he'd managed to run out the door. If that wasn't bad enough he'd also forgotten everything and had to run back home. He didn't want this to be their first impression of him on his first day here. Not like he could change that now though. Glancing down at his watch he let out another small sigh when he saw that he was already ten minutes late for first class.

Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to mess around with the hunter first thing in the morning. It was just to easy though. He'd just been walking on the street with his friends, looking like he was ranting to them about something or complaining about something. To screw with the hunter when he was so obviously at the end of his rope was just way to tempting.

"Hey Fenton!"

Oh? Was the boy late for class too? Funny, Danny saw him sprinting for class while he was flying home.

Looking around the area Danny frowned when he didn't see the other anywhere. The halls were mostly empty except for the few students who were still straggling around or looking for their class. Why would someone call Danny though if he wasn't here?

"Hey! Fen-turd! I'm talking to you!"

It seemed that all at once all eyes were drawn to him and Danny didn't have anytime to think about what he was doing before he ducked out of the way of a hand that would have clamped down on the back of his neck before he grabbed the wrist and twisted the arm of the owner, slamming them into the locker. He blinked as he let the boy go while everyone left in the hallway gasped in shock. It's not like he had meant to do it. Growing up where he was constantly having to survive surprise attacks from hunters, other ghost, and training from his dad his reaction was just that, a reaction.

"Oh, sorry about that." He chuckled as he put his hands up in defence. "My bad."

The guy he'd embarrassed was huge now that he had a second to take a look at him. Being thrown around so easily must have stunned him since it took him a moment to push himself off of the lockers. He was still blinking, as if trying to wake himself from a dream, before he turned around.

"Hey you okay?" Danny asked as he raised a brow at the others silence. He jumped back though when the much larger teen spun around on him. The half ghost was almost shocked about how much this angry stranger towered over him.

"What was that Fenton!" He growled as he grabbed a fistful of the boy's black shirt and yanked him off his feet, holding their faces inches apart.

Fenton? Oh! Did he think he was Danny? Well that was just great.

"I'm not Fenton!" Danny snapped as he struggled in the others grip, kicking his feet around wildly. "My names Phantom! Danny Phantom!"

"Do you think I'm stupid Fen-turd?" The golden blond boy snarled as he lifted the boy up higher. "Just because you changed your hair colour and got coloured contacts doesn't mean that I don't know who you are!"

"Put me down!" Danny snarled as his eyes started to pulse a soft bright green.

"Not until I give you your fill of a knuckle sandwich." The other smirked as he pulled his fist back.

Danny refused to break eye contact with him though as his eyes seemed to brighten. He really couldn't stand some humans.

"Dash Baxter you put him down right now!" The strong voice of Valerie made them both stop for a moment before Dash grumbled under his breath and dropped the boy ungracefully to his feet, he didn't however release his hold on the others shirt as he turned to the source of the voice.

"Or what?" He growled while Danny eyed the darker skinned girl who was marching up to them.

"Or I'll show you just why I'm a ninth degree black belt. Now let him go."

He could tell that 'Dash' had no interest in letting him go, and as much as he would have loved to see Valerie in action he really didn't want her to get in trouble on his account. So instead he grabbed a hold of Dash's arm. Pulling it close to his chest he spun himself around so his back was pushing against Dash's chest. Without a second thought he through the much large male over his shoulder. The jerk gasped for air once he landed with a solid thud on the ground and Danny couldn't help the smirk over his face as he watched the blond blink at the ceiling in a daze.

Walking away from him and over to the wide eyed girl he gave her a friendly smile.

"Thanks for stepping in Val." He grinned as she stared at him opened mouthed.

"I don't think I needed too." She said as she peered around him to see the small group of students that were already forming around the fallen male. Turning back to him she smirked. "Nice. Didn't know you had it in you."

"Well you know. Got picked on a lot when I was younger. This is the way I learned to deal with it."

Inwardly he laughed at the idea of being picked on. However he had been kidnapped before. That thought sobered him up fast.

"Did you grab your schedule yet?" She asked, pulling his mind back to the here and now.

"Oh ya." Fishing around in his pockets Danny quickly pulled his out. Handing it over to her he carefully watched as she looked over the list. "I have no idea where any of these places are so...

"We have all the same classes." She confirmed as she handed it back. "So just stick with me and you'll be good."

"Oh good." Danny sighed as they started to make their way down the hall. "You know we should walk to school together. It would make sense since we're in the same building after all."

It also wouldn't hurt for him to start making friends. He liked Valerie, she was funny and sweet. Besides, he needed someone other than hunters and his Dad to talk to.

"I'd like that." She agreed while he followed her down the hall.

Danny smiled at his new morning plans as he grabbed a hold of the straps of his bag.

"So," he said, ignoring the looks he was getting from some of the students as he walked down the hall, "are all of the students here as charming as him?"

Valerie laughed lightly at that as she shrugged her shoulder's, hugging the books in her hand closer to her chest.

"Some of them are nice, but their are ones like that so watch out."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Danny mumbled as he looked down at his sheet again, trying to figure out how to read it. "So what class do we have first?"

"Biochemistry."


	8. Chapter 8

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 8

"Danny! That guy looks exactly like you!" Tucker whispered loudly from the back of the class while Phantom held his head in his hands, chewing on the end of his pencil and trying to ignore the countless pairs of eyes drifting from him to Fenton and back again.

He could understand their shock. The boys looked like each other in every way except for hair and eye colour and having them in the same room seemed to be almost 'Twilight Zone' like. That didn't erase the fact that he wished that they would just stop talking though. Not that he was listening to the teacher or anything, in fact he had winked at a countless amount of girls and received flirty giggles in response, so he really wasn't paying any attention whatsoever. It was just the low buzz of consent murmuring was starting to get to him.

"This is so weird." Sam whispered to her friend, her voice joining in with the jumble of the others, making Phantom let out a long sigh as he dropped one hand to his desk and flipped through his notebook absently.

His eyes widened slightly when the next breath that drifted out of his mouth formed a small cloud of frost before his head whipped around to face the window. A smirk pulled at his lip's when he saw someone drifting out in the middle of the field. Well, what better way to see how the hunter was going to react?

Raising his hand he waited until he was called upon and he could basically feel the boy in the back row suddenly tense as realization of the ghost outside caught his eye.

"Yes Dann..., um Phantom?" The teacher questioned as she pointed a slender finger towards him while he simply smiled back at her.

"May I have permission to go to the bathroom?" He asked with an overly polite attitude that made a smile cross the older woman's face.

"Of course you can dear." She said and Danny stretched his arms over his head as he got up. "Fenton?"

"Can I go too?" Danny squeaked as he jumped to his feet, his eyes discretely darting from the woman to the floating blue figure outside that, thankfully, on one had noticed yet.

"No Mr. Fenton, you can wait until Phantom get's back."

It was harder than he thought it would be in order to hold back his smirk, but Danny managed it as he casually strolled out of the classroom at his own pace, pretending to be completely oblivious to the ice blue eyes that were narrowed at him. He couldn't help it though when he sent a wicked grin to the boy over his shoulder seconds before he disappeared around the door frame.

Whatcha gonna do Hunter?

It was barely recognizable, but he saw the others eye's widen all the same as his mouth seemed to become suddenly slacked jawed. The raven haired hunter knew he was screwed now. He was going to be stuck in class and the ghost was going to be roaming free, and there would be nothing he could do about it.

Danny wasted no time in smirking smugly to himself as he slung his bag off of his shoulder and ripped the zipper open. Glancing down the halls to make sure no one was there he yanked out his leather jacket, swiftly put it on, zipped it up and pulled the hood over his head in record time. Tossing his now empty bag on top of the lockers where other students most likely wouldn't see it or wouldn't care, he Made himself intangible and kicked off the ground and flew right through the roof.

Spinning around for a moment as he scanned his surroundings Danny smiled widely to himself when he spotted who he was looking for.

"Hey!" He yelled happily to show he was friendly as he dived towards where they were.

The other ghost simply looked up at him and didn't seem even fazed when the young ghost landed not even a few feet away from him. Straightening himself out Danny grinned up at the stranger with his hand held out. "Hood at your service, ghost protector of Amity Park."

Letting out a long sigh the other ghost threw his hands in the air as he hunched his shoulders.

"I am the Box Ghost! Here to...oh never mind." He grumbled as he dropped his arms back down and shook the offered hand. "It is nice to meet the protector of us ghosts."

Danny raised a brow at him as he tilted his head while he lowered his hand back to his side.

"You okay?" He questioned and his frown pulled down deeper when the older looking spirit seemed to curl in on himself even more.

He watched as Box Ghost let out another sigh before he brought his knees up and rested his elbows on them, as if he was sitting on a chair in mid air.

"It is my pregnant wife. She is so grumpy now -Beware!- And constantly craves the ice cream that comes in a round ball container..."

A bowl?

"...And pickles in a tall circle rectangle..."

A jar?

"...But she does not want any from our world, saying they lack the full taste that she so craves. But I can not enter into the large box like places where humans keep their food..."

A Grocery store?

"...without the woman hunter trying to catch me in her cylindrical container." He explained as he dropped his head into his hands. "I am afraid that I will have to go back to my wife empty handed and suffer the wrath of her unfulfilled cravings."

Danny blinked as he stared at the other. He was just trying to get something nice for his pregnant wife, but was being stopped by another mother? Weird how that worked out...

"How about this?" He asked as he brought himself to be sitting next to the floating ghost with a smile over his lips. "You wait outside the store and hide somewhere so the hunters don't see you, and I can go in and grab the stuff you need and then give it to you when I get out. That way you won't be attacked by the hunters and your wife can get what she needs."

Box Ghost seemed to suddenly come to life as he jumped up and threw his arms in the air.

"Oh! That sounds like a great idea! -Beware!- Thank you so much!" He said as he through his arms around the others waist and pulled him into a spine crushing hug while a face splitting smile came to his face.

Chuckling somewhat awkwardly Danny patted the guy's head before looking over into the classroom window. He couldn't help the small smirk that came to his face when he saw that Fenton was watching them, his fist clenched tightly and noticeable even from all the way on the other side of the field. This was one ghost he wasn't going to mess with.

"Come on," he said softly as he finally managed to pull out of the others grip, "let's go get that stuff."

(***)

He had shoved the hood back into his bag after he'd grabbed it from the top of the lockers before he'd even shown up at the grocery store that Box Ghost had been trying to get in. Even so though he felt as if the woman could see right through him as she looked down at the device in her hands one more time.

"Now this doesn't make any sense." She scowled as she gave the object a sharp whack only for her frown to deepen even more.

Danny on the other hand tried to keep the unwavering smile on his face as his hold around the pumpkin flavoured ice cream and jar of spicy flavoured pickles tightened. How many of those tracking things was he going to have to destroy before they gave up? It was just getting ridiculous now, this one was going to have to be the ninth one he was going to destroy on them.

"Is there a problem miss?" He asked politely while batting his bright emerald greens at her innocently, fighting as hard as he could to not show that he knew who she was.

After all Maddie Fenton and Danny Phantom had met in a Deli where he worked, but Danny Phantom had never met the talked about ghost hunter before. The woman smiled down at him as she clipped the object to her belt while placing her free hand on her hip.

"Oh sorry dear, I guess there's nothing to worry about, I've just got to get some devices looked at. You should be careful though, there's a ghost around here somewhere." She suddenly growled as her eyes scanned the store floor once more, obviously ignoring the people gawking at her like she was some sort of movie star. "Up to no good no doubt."

It was really hard to keep a frown off his face and even harder to force a chuckle passed his lips.

"Since when are they ever up to any good?" He asked as he side stepped the woman carefully, just wanting to get to the cash and get out of there.

He was forced to a sudden halt though when the woman grabbed his arm and forced his to a stop.

"Wait a minute..." she mumbled and he felt the smallest sense of dread creep upon him as the idea of her knowing his secret jumped into his mind. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Oh? Was that it? He'd thought that she finally recognized him but thankfully she was more interested in the idea of him missing out on his education than anything else. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding he just shrugged like any other teen would.

"I'm on spare right now." He lied smoothly as she let his arm go. "Just picking up some things for my mom."

"Oh, well aren't you just the sweetest?" She cooed as she pinched one of his cheeks lightly. "Well go on then sweetie, I won't keep you any longer."

His smile instantly dropped when he turned his back to the woman and headed over to the jaw dropped, wide eyed cashier. Now if he were to tell her that he had a ghost mother he wondered what she would say, or even do. Probably banish him forever, stick him in the thermos and than use him as target practice. He shuttered at the thought.

The cashier rang him through almost in a trance, their eyes only ever leaving the female hunter when they were reading off the price. Danny quickly handed them the bill and walked away without waiting for the change as he stepped out of the grocery store. Slipping behind the cover of some bushes he dug his jacket out and flipped the hood up before he floated back up in the air, heading towards the back of the building where he knew that Box Ghost would be waiting. Landing softly he scanned the area as he looked around for the pudgy spirit of cardboard boxes.

Where was he? Hadn't Danny told him that he'd be right back?

"Looking for something?"

Halting in his search suddenly Danny felt his shoulders hunch as he slowly turned around. He felt like spitting fire when he saw the thermos in the hands of the other as he carelessly tossed it up and down. How had he gotten out of class? And better yet how had he known where Box Ghost was going to be? Where did he even get that? Danny had thought that he had destroyed all of them.

Over the past week Danny had been freeing ghost and stopping the hunters from catching them, but this? This just pissed him off beyond belief. The guy was just trying to get something nice for his pregnant wife and these two just wouldn't leave it alone. He was harmless, not here to cause any trouble and yet they were the ones who were automatically ready to pounce at his throat.

"Let. Him. Go." He snarled as he started advancing towards the suited teen, his anger only growing when the boy smirked and stuck his tongue out.

"Why don't you make me?"

What was this? A game? Any other time and Danny would have been happy to play along but today? Right now with this ghost that reminded him so much of what his mother and father had to go through? Reminding him of all those years he'd spent stuck in a white room being scrutinized by behind a thick pan of glass by men in long white trench coats until him father found him? It wasn't a joke. Not this time. Not when families were involved.

Placing the bag down gently enough to not smash the glass jar open against the concrete Danny lifted his hand and with a snap of his wrist he sent a strong shot of ectoenergy straight to the boy's legs. The hunter was quick though and managed to jump back to avoid losing a leg but he ended up slamming himself up against the brick wall and before he could blink Danny was right there, glaring at the boy with piercing green eyes and an almost ferocious snarl pulling at his lips as he held their faces inches away.

"Let him go Fenton." His words were said in such a hiss that they almost didn't sound human.

"Um..." The boy seemed to flabbergasted to move as his wide blue eyes stared straight at the other, his mouth parted as if he wanted to say something but couldn't think of the words.

Seeing he was in way to much shock at the aggressive behaviour Danny took a hold of the container that Hunter was now holding to his chest and pulled it from his grasp. That seemed to snap the boy out of it but the moment that he went to reach for it Danny simply kept him immobile with a quick flick of his wrist that shot ecto cuffs around the boy's wrist and ankles. With the next step Fenton tried to take he crashed to the concrete and let out a sharp hiss at the pain that was no doubt spreading through his body.

Scoffing at him Danny turned back to the object in his hands and clicked the release button. A bright flash of blue light made him squint his eyes almost closed but seconds later and the light was gone, leaving a shaking form of the Box Ghost in it's wake.

"Hey." He said softly as he crouched down beside the other, smiling gently when the ghost cracked it's eye's open. "I got the stuff for your wife."

Tilting his head in the direction of the bag he stood back up as he held out a hand to the other and pulled him to his feet.

"You should probably be heading back to her now."

He was almost knocked over when Box Ghost threw his arms around him, nearly crushing him again with a tight hug.

"Thank you for releasing me from the circular container of doom! I shall now go back to my wife and give her the gifts that she so craves!" He grinned as he let the protector go and flew over to the bag and picked it up. He glanced at Fenton for a moment before throwing his arms in the air and growling at him. "Beware!"

Danny chuckled slightly at that as he watch the ghost than dash away as if the hunter was about to get up and trap him in the thermos again.

Staring down at the object in his hand he glanced back up at the glaring eye's of the squirming teen before crushing the object in his hands.

"Hey! That was my last one!" The boy shouted as Danny flicked his wrist and the bonds disappeared.

"Good. I'm getting tired of breaking them." Danny smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

He couldn't help but allow his smirk to grow bigger at the scowl across the others face as he shifted his weight over to one foot.

"Nights you seriously have to butt out of this." The raven haired teen growled as he yanked the mask off of his head, already knowing that the other ghost knew who he was so there was no need for one.

"I should be saying the same to you." Danny mumbled as he stuck his tongue out at the boy.

Fenton seemed to bristle as he walked up to the other and shoved him back a few steps before bending down and snatching the shattered pieces off the ground. It seemed to be a mutual agreement that the two wouldn't really attack each other if there wasn't any ghost around or if his mother wasn't present, although that didn't stop them from breaking the imaginary rules every now and then.

"He just wanted to get something from here. He wasn't going to attack anyone, he was of no threat to you."

"Ha! You can say that!" Fenton snapped as he stood back up on his feet and glared at the other. "But you're a ghost! You can handle yourself against other ghost! What happens if he snapped and attack a kid or something? Or if he dropped a box full of heavy stuff on top of someone and crushed them?" The ghost hunter questioned as he stabbed a finger into the other chest with each point. "Would he be so harmless than Nights?"

Danny bite back on the nickname as he narrowed his eyes. He wanted to give the guy his real name but that would just give him away. Nights though sounded like something that people called their pets.

"Why can't you ghost just stay in your own world?" He growled as he started walking over to the dumpster with the pieces in his hands.

Danny flew up in the air and lifted the lid up, watching as his mirror image dumped the parts in, sending him a quick thanks as the ghost just shrugged before dropping it and taking a seat on top of the lid. They were both silent as the raven haired teen let out a long sigh and leaned against the box heavily, rubbing at his eyes with a tired hand.

"Ironically enough, they feel safer here." Danny put in as he dropped himself to be leaning against the box, his arm only inches away from touching the others. "Have you ever been in the Ghost Zone before?"

"Can't say I've had any reason to." Fenton shrugged, almost seeming to tired to continue on the conversation. In fact he almost looked wiped out. Danny hadn't bothered him last night though so he had no idea why the guy appeared to be so tired.

"You okay?" Danny questioned with a small smirk as the boy turned to give him a halfhearted glare, something Danny was sure would have been a lot more intimidating if he didn't look like he was going to pass out in two seconds.

"I'm fine. This is just frustrating and I don't get it." He grumbled before closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the thin medal. "Not like it's going to matter soon though. In the next few days, maybe even tonight, you won't be able to get into our house and that will at least give me some time away from you."

Danny glared at that small bit of information as a tiny smirk came to the boy's face, probably already dreaming of the blissful hours of sleep and ghost 'freeness'. Moving in front of the boy he looped his index fingers into Fenton's belt before pulling him forward and narrowing his green eyes at the now suddenly awake looking blue.

"I highly doubt that anything you guys do will be able to keep me out." He growled before a slow smirk made it's way across his lips. "Until you guys finally give up I'm going to do everything in my power to make your lives hell."

"Just try it." Fenton growled, refusing to back down as he brought a hand up to fist in the others jacket. "Because I am so going to catch you one of these days and screw sending you back to the Ghost Zone." He snarled as they both subconsciously pulled each other closer. "You'll just get out again."

"So how exactly are you going to make sure I 'disappear' Hunter?" Danny taunted as he felt his smirk widening.

"I'll think of something." The boy promised as he glared into the bright green eyes, their noses almost bumping together as they could each feel their breath brushing against the others cheeks.

Neither of them seemed to notice how close they were though, each of them far to interested in not losing the eye contact they had. Refusing to give up in the weird show of power that they were holding.

They both seemed to snap out of it however when a sharp sting dug into Danny's arm, making him yelp in pain and jump back from the other who was now blinking at him owlishly, almost as if he was trying to bring himself out of a trance like state. Danny on the other hand rubbed at his upper arm as a scowl tugged at his lips before he looked up and felt his teeth gleam in a snarl as he narrowed his eyes at the person who had shot him.

So much for sweetie.

"Danny! Are you okay?" The woman asked as she lowered her ectogun and ran over to her son, pulling him away from the dump and to be hidden behind her."Why don't you pick on someone else you ecto freak!" She growled as she lifted her weapon back up and pointed at him again.

He wasn't going to stick around to see if she would hit him though as he pushed off the ground and took to the sky quicker than he had in a long time. Disappearing from their sight Danny rubbed at his arm as he removed his jacket before letting out a silent curse.

He'd forgotten his bag back there.


	9. Chapter 9

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 9

Their laughter echoed around the empty halls of the apartment building the second that they walked in. Danny tried to stifle his own and made a motion to Valarie to try and muffle her's as well when he caught the eyes of a middle aged women glaring at them as she turned the key of her own home. Slipping into the stairwell together they started their way up as she slid her hand over the railing.

"I swear I have never seen Lancer's face get the purple before." She said, her grin nearly splitting her face in half.

Danny couldn't stop himself from crowing a bit in pride as he straightened himself out. "It's all about knowing your opponent." He clarified, waving his finger in the air as if to help emphasize his point.

"I'll bet." She snickered, pulling away from him and heading over to the door that lead to her own floor. "See you tomorrow Phantom, and don't forget we'll go together this time."

Danny gave her a two fingered salute as he continued on his way. "You can count on it."

He didn't stay to watch her as she opened the door to her own floor and instead turned his attention to going back up the stairs. He was actually kind of tired and he wanted to just sit down and watch some TV before doing his homework. There was no way that Fenton was going to be resting tonight. No doubt his mother had been working all day on making another one of those stupid thermos catcher things. He was going to have to spend all night no doubt split into three and chasing them around the city. Now that he was thinking about it maybe it would be a better idea to study the layout of the city a little more rather than watch TV. Sure he'd studied some of it, but he was going to need to know it way better than that to make sure that he wasn't going to back himself into something he couldn't get out of.

All thoughts of this slipped from his mind once he opened his door and was promptly greeted with the sight of his Dad standing right there. A huge grin over his face and his hands held under his chin as if it would help contain his excitement.

"How was your first day of school Danny boy?" Jack questioned, pulling Danny in from outside and landing a powerful slap on his back with a meaty hand. "Did you do any rouble rousing? Meet any cute girls?" He grinned with a wink while the boy rolled his bright green eyes before hiking his bag up higher on his shoulders.

" Yeah Dad, it was great, no, I kept an extremely low profile." He shrugged, shivering slightly from the breeze of the air conditioner.

He didn't bother to mention that before school had even started he'd been taunting a hunter, or the fact that he was ten minutes late to class and that he tossed some large jocky guy over his shoulder. And he was going to take the fact that he'd skipped out on class in order to save a ghost from a hunter to his grave as well as the fact that he got shot, again. His arm was still a little sore no thanks to that. Sure he could heal but for more serious wounds it could take some time.

"And the school is filled with cute girls. I even got a few numbers."

Oddly enough however none of them had popped into his head upon hearing the word cute. Instead it had been Fenton's look of shock when Danny had stolen the Box Ghost back and the adorable way he looked when they had been arguing just two seconds before he got blasted that visited the forefront of his mind.

"That's my boy!" His father smirked, his grin all blindingly white teeth as his shoulders rolled back while he stood up straighter. "You've picked up my womanly charms son."

Danny just gave a somewhat awkward smile and nod to the statement. Seconds later however he saw the telltale signs of his father about to go into story mode and he carefully slipped out of the mans hold. He was still backing away to his bedroom, putting his jacket back on in order to try and chase away the chill of the apartment, when his father called back to him.

How the man had noticed that he wasn't right next to his side anymore Danny had no idea, but he let out a heavy sigh before he turned back to the man with a somewhat strained smile over his face.

"Yes Dad?"

He really did love his father and everything but at the moment he wanted nothing more than to just curl up on his bed and rest for a second.

"I just wanted to let you know that my boss called and he said that he needed me to come in for tonight."

Danny just found himself blinking at the words his father had said while he thought about. Even after they had moved here months ago his father had yet to leave the house for work. While Danny had always thought that was odd he had no idea just why it seemed even stranger for the man to be going in. Was this going to be a regular occurrence now? If so it was going to make sneaking out a lot easier.

"Oh, okay." He eventually found himself mumbled as he placed his hands into the pockets of his hood. "When will you be back?"

Jack reached into their closet by the door, pulling out a hat and a jacket, his grin not once leaving his face.

"Not until much later my dear boy." He said his hand on the doorknob as he turned back to his son. "But fear not. I left you dinner in the fridge and I have my cellphone on me so don't be afraid to call me if you need me for anything." He said, and Danny couldn't help the smile that pulled at the corner of his lips from his Dad's concern.

Just as he was about to disappear out the door Jack gave a snap of his fingers and ducked his head back inside. "Right, before I forget, you're not allowed out when I'm gone alright? There are to many things that could go wrong." As his Dad finished his sentence his eyes shifted from one side of the door to the other, as if he was expecting ghosts or hunters to come popping out of nowhere. When his gaze landed on Danny once more his smile was back full force as he waved his other hand in the air. "Goodbye son! Know that I love you!"

"Love you too Dad!" Danny called back just before the door shut.

Chuckling to himself he gave a small roll of his eyes as he finally made his way back to his room. He knew that most kids his age, males especially, wouldn't be caught dead saying that to their parents, let alone their fathers. It was one thing to say to a mom but a dad? Danny was over trying to act macho though. Considering the fact that his Dad had spent years trying to find him and than pulled him out of the rubble had made Danny swallow his pride at a very young age in order to admit that he didn't care what other people thought of him for saying so. His Dad deserved to know that Danny appreciated him, and sometimes it was nice to hear it rather than just imply it.

Stepping into his door he flopped down on his bed. When he felt the bunch up material of the hood press into the back of his neck he gave a huff before he lifted himself up. Pulling the hood over his head he laid back down and basked in the glow of doing nothing for a few seconds.

The few seconds came to a sharp end that made his ears twitch when the shrill cry of the doorbell echoed around the house and into his room.

With an aggravated huff he hoisted himself out of the bed and walked out the door of his room. Now he could see just how annoying it was for someone to stop him from resting just as he was about to. It made sense that Fenton was so mad at him for it and Danny couldn't help it when his annoyance faded away to be replaced with a feeling of contempt.

"Yes?" He mumbled as he opened the door that was separating him from whoever was on the other side.

His eyes went wide as they fell upon the black jumpsuit of his mirror image. The two stared at each other for a split moment, as if they were both too stunned to even be able to utter a single hello. With a snap of his wrist though Danny had slammed to door shut and just stood there blinking at it for a moment longer before his brain seemed to finally catch up to him.

Danny Fenton -Amity Park's top ghost hunter- was standing outside his door.

Cursing out loud he spun around on his heels and darted for the window, he didn't get very far though before the door was thrown open again and a thin but solid body tackled him to the ground with surprising force. The two fought each other for a few minutes, rolling around, kicking, punching, and growling at each other as they constantly tried to flip the other over, each one wanting to be the one with the upper hand. When he was slammed to the floor for the umpteenth time Danny finally snapped as he phased them both threw the floor, flipping them over while in midair and grinning as he stopped them just an inch before they could slam into the concrete ground.

Smirking a little at the scrunched up face of the boy underneath him who was probably waiting for the painful crash he bopped him on the head before finally allowing the boy to drop the last few inches with a painful thud.

"What are you doing here Hunter?" He questioned as he snatched both of the others wrist's and pinned them none to gently to the ground. "Shouldn't you be attacking some poor, weak, defenceless ghost right now?"

"I am." Fenton smirked while Danny's eyes narrowed sharply at the insult.

A yelp slipped passed the white haired teen's lip's when he was suddenly flipped over and had his own wrist's held down.

"I thought I'd just find out where you soul goes when it's on earth, never thought you'd be haunting an apartment building though." Fenton grinned almost smugly while Phantom scowled at him.

"I don't, just thought I'd drop by." He mumbled. "How did you follow me anyways?" He asked as he pressed his lips together tightly and tilted his head to the side.

"You think the only trackers we make are the big ones?" The ghost hunter scoffed as he leaned closer, bringing their faces close as he slipped a hand into the pocket of Danny's jacket before pulling it back and showing the other his prize with a triumphant grin. "Surprise."

With a frustrated sigh Danny dropped his head back on the stranger's floor. Right, when they had been arguing at the end, Phantom had been to wrapped up in what they had been saying, the idea of the young hunter slipping something into his pocket had never even occurred to him.

And those two hunters thought ghosts were sneaky.

Without his hands being held down Danny pushed himself to sit up, not even seeming to care that, that made Fenton basically sit in his lap as he rubbed his eyes with one hand. How could he have been so careless about something like this? He should have checked himself for trackers ahead of time, before he lead the guy straight to his front door.

"What's the matter Nights? Thrown off your game since I found you for once?" Fenton smirked as the other frowned deeply at him.

He was actually. He liked to be the one to screw around with the hunter on his terms, he didn't like the idea of Fenton showing up out of nowhere and surprising him, at his own home no less. He liked to be the one in control, he didn't like the idea of someone else having it. It was just to weird, it made him feel to weak and to vulnerable...

It reminded him to much of his younger years.

"You know if I was the type of ghost that you guys think that we all are, than I would have already destroyed you." He growled as he leaned back on his hands while giving the raven haired teen a levelled glare.

His eyes narrowed a little more when Fenton opened his mouth as if to say something before snapping it closed as his bright blue eyes fell to the side. Not even a second later though and he shrugged his shoulders before whacking the ghost on the forehead with two fingers.

"Yeah, but you're just weird." He said, nodding his head as if that was a reasonable conclusion.

"Say's the ghost hunter who's been sitting on a ghost's lap for the last bit." Danny shot back as the boy's eyes went wide.

"Oh right!" He mumbled as he jerked back quickly, scurrying back a few more feet on his hands while Danny raise a brow at him, noticing the light dusting of pink covering the boy's cheeks.

"You alright Hunter?" He smirked, loving the feeling of control shifting back to him. "Your face is a little red there."

"Shut up Nights." The boy sneered slightly as he rubbed at his cheeks.

Danny eyed him for a little longer before he looked around and found his eyes widening upon remembering that they weren't in his house. They were in a stranger's home, and Fenton wasn't wearing his mask. If the home owner walked in on them than his secret identity would be ruined. Danny didn't know why that bothered him so much when exposing the hunter would really be ideal but the moment that he heard footsteps and saw the shadow forms of two people walking around the corner he dived towards the other, slapping a hand over his mouth and holding a single finger up to his own lip's seconds before they disappeared from the sight of the strangers.

"Are you sure you heard something dear?" A tired looking man asked as he covered his mouth with his hand as a yawn forced it's way out while a heavy set looking woman held his other hand, dragging him into the room. Danny recognized her as the woman that had glared at him and Valarie earlier. They must have been on the bottom floor than which meant that they had fallen a lot further than he had thought.

"I'm sure of it John. I heard two people talking in here just seconds ago. It could be those meddling kids again from down the hall.

Pulling the other to his feet Danny wrapped an arm around the hunter's waist before lifting them back straight up from where they had fallen from. Once they were back in his own hallway Danny let out a sigh as he turned them visible again and dropped his hand from the black haired male's mouth.

"That was close Fenton, you should be thanking me." He mumbled as he let the boy go and took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not attacking me at hom... um, my place of hunting would be nice."

"Don't push it Nights." The other scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

"Would you like me to drop you back down there to be exposed." Danny asked as he raised a single brow while the blue eyed male shook his head quickly.

"No!" He almost squeaked as he waved his hand's back and forth quickly.

Danny chuckled at that as he leaned his shoulders against the wall his leg bending at the knee as that his foot could rest against the solid structure as well.

"I thought you said you were just 'dropping by' here though," Fenton mumbled as the smile on Danny's lips suddenly vanished while a slow smirk crept upon the others, "so this is your place of haunting hm?"

"Dropping you down there is looking more and more tempting."

"Chill ghost boy." Fenton snickered as he brushed off the invisible dust from his suit before mirroring Danny's stance. "But don't think that I'm not going to set up traps and what not here now. If you get to make my home a living hell than I get to do the same to yours."

Green eyes narrowed a fraction at the blackmail, knowing for a fact that the ghost hunting teen wasn't lying. He could only imagine all of the annoying devices that Fenton could set up that would drive him up the wall and probably alert some other unwanted guests as to where he was. Not only that but he had no idea how he was supposed to let his dad know that he had completely blown their cover. Well, almost, thankfully it seemed that the other boy thought he was just haunting some random person's house and not that he was living there as well.

With a bit of a scowl he pushed himself off of the wall and took a step towards the raven haired teen with a hand out in agreement.

"Fine, truce. I leave your house alone, and you leave my hou...place of haunting alone." He grumbled while the hunter took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Agreed." He grinned. A moment after he'd dropped the hand, his bright blue eyes darted to the ground as he rubbed the back of his neck somewhat sheepishly. "But, um, if you want you can still drop by I guess."

This time it was Danny who smirked as he hovered in the air for a moment, slipping around behind the boy as he looped an arm around his shoulders.

"Aw, would you miss me if I didn't show?" He purred against Fenton's ear and he couldn't help but chuckle at the shiver that seemed to rack the others body from the sudden cold grabbing at him.

"Nights..." Fenton growled with a slight bite of warning in his voice that made the white haired teen roll his eyes at the pet sounding nickname. From the way he'd said it Danny could have sworn he was scolding an animal for doing something wrong.

"Fine, fine, I was kidding." He sighed as he put both of his hands in the air with a slight pout.

"Well I wasn't." The other Danny mumbled as he ran a hand threw his black hair while his eyes looked over to the side for a moment. "I'd like to study you a bit. Nothing to do with test tubes or anything," he confirmed when Phantom pressed his lips together tightly at the sound of tests, "but you know, just watching you and seeing how ghost work and whatnot."

"No." Danny cut in as he rolled his bright green eyes. "I'm not going to let you do any test so you can use it against another ghosts later. It's my job to protect them remember." He mumbled as he moved his eyes back to lock with the slightly narrowed blue of the hunter.

"We're never going to see eye to eye on this are we?" He questioned as Danny scoffed.

"Duh."

"Well how would it be any different from when you'd hangout at my house without my permission?" Fenton questioned as Danny went to go say something before he came up blank.

"Well, you weren't trying to 'research' me than." He grumbled as he shifted back and forth on his feet while he crossed his arms over his chest, not liking where this conversation was going. "I wasn't doing anything than anyways, I wasn't bugging you like I do at night."

"Then why do you always show up?" Fenton asked as Danny felt a small blush creep up on his cheeks.

"Are you going to leave soon? There can't be much else you can do here if you're not setting up traps or something." He mumbled blankly, just wanting to kick the hunter right out of his house.

"You were lonely." It was a statement, not a question and Danny felt his face grow hotter as a scowl came to his lips.

"Anytime now would be fine for you to leave."

Phantom's eyes narrowed, almost to slits, as he pressed his lips together so tightly they almost seemed to disappear. Of course he was lonely, how could he not be? He didn't fit in with humans, most would skin him alive or call him a liar if he told them. He didn't fit in with other ghost much since if they found out about his human half they would just try to kill it off or chase him away whenever he got close to them. It was hard to get close to people when they couldn't know you completely, even harder still when the moment they would find out their reaction would be extremely aggressive and whatever they would decide to do would hurt even more since he'd known them as friends before. Making friends, even loose ones was hard when you were constantly moving from place to place and so of course he was going to cherish any type of human contact he could get that wasn't completely negative. Sure Fenton attacked him on the occasion but Phantom attacked him too, not only that but Fenton knew both his ghost half and his human one, even if he didn't know they were the same person it still felt as if he knew the boy better than anyone else ever had.

"I never thought ghost could get lonely." Fenton said into the silence and Danny had to blink in order to pull himself out of his thoughts, nearly jumping when he saw that the boy was standing right in front of him.

It seemed that the hunter's earlier amusement had left and instead he stood there, staring at Danny with sad blue eyes, eyes filled with pity and a small amount of understanding. He didn't stare at them long though before he looked away to the side, wanting to see anything else but that look.

"You don't think ghost feel anything." He mumbled as crossed his arm's over his chest.

It was silent for a moment before Danny snapped his eyes back when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Than why don't you teach me?"

"Wha?"

"Well, I've been thinking for awhile now that it might be a better idea to learn more about ghost after hearing some of the stuff you've been saying about them. I want to be able to tell the difference between harmless ghost and dangerous ones. I want to know when I should just let ghosts fight it out and when I should step in for the protection of the people."

Danny couldn't believe his ears, sure he knew he was hearing it, but it always could have been his mind playing tricks on him. Rubbing at his ears quickly as Fenton continued on Danny than rubbed at his eyes to see if maybe he'd fallen asleep in his room and this was some sort of dream. When the hunter remained where he was though, continuing to talk although Danny had zoned out quiet awhile ago, he still couldn't believe it.

"I'm not giving you any secrets for your research." Danny mumbled as his eyes narrowed once more while Fenton smiled at him.

"I'm not asking for secrets Nights." He chuckled as he shifted slightly in place, almost looking adorably awkward. "I just want to learn more about you."

Both of their eyes widened at that as Danny's mouth slipped open while Fenton quickly waved his hands in the air.

"Um-Ghost! I meant I want to learn more about ghost!" He stuttered as Danny just shook his head quickly in agreement. "You know you're a ghost and you protect ghost..."

"Yeah, well it goes without saying." He mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, forcing a smirk on his face as he ducked his head a little.

"Um, yeah, right." The hunter muttered, seemingly more to himself before he looked back up into the eyes of the white haired teen. "So if you can make it passed the shield we're making feel free to stop by anytime." He grinned while Danny cocked his head to the side.

"Is that an invitation?" He questioned while the raven haired teen chuckled as he started to the door.

"It's a challenge Nights."


	10. Chapter 10

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 10

He had no idea why he was here. He was about to fall asleep on his feet and his head was pounding as if someone was beating on it with a baseball bat. Regardless of their semi playful mood this morning and afternoon, Fenton hadn't gone easy on him at all this evening.

Danny's side still stung from where the ray had blasted him, and he was sure that he might have broken a few of his ribs when he'd been thrown to the ground by Maddie. Than again maybe that had been when Sam had nailed him in the side with her boot. What were those things made out of anyways? She must had made them herself with steel soles or something. Either way, it was nearly impossible to know just which one of his encounters had left him aching pretty much everywhere.

Another thing that sucked about recombining after being split apart was that he also received every injury that his clones did. It always hurt like a witch afterwards.

Even with all the pain he was feeling however he still found himself standing outside Hunter's house at nearly three o'clock in the morning.

Admittedly it didn't look any different from the outside. It was still the same boring, but huge, three story house that he remembered during all of his other visits and for a moment he couldn't help but wonder if maybe Fenton had been lying. Maybe his mother hadn't created anything and it was just supposed to be the idea that was to keep him away. However given the fact that Maddie had no idea that they had ever spoken he highly doubt it.

Eyeing the home he lightly tapped his fingers against his thigh while his other arm was cradled around his middle. He felt like he was going to hurl and he was sure that once he started walking his knees would start to shake. This was such a bad idea and he couldn't give a good reason as to why he wasn't using what little energy he had left to fly home and regroup. With a sigh he took a step forward, his legs nearly giving out on him the moment that he did, but he held strong. He'd been forced to endure more pain than this before and than forced to see just how far he could push his physical limit. He knew that he could do this.

He wasn't sure where this shield was going to appear, or when he was going to be hit with it. It made him want to flinch with every step that he took, his whole body tense as it waited for the inevitable pain that he was sure would come. Lowering his hand from his side he took in a deep breath and glared at the stairs that were now right before him.

Fenton had offered a challenged and he'd be damned if he didn't at least try.

It was when he lowered his foot onto the stone steps of the city house that his whole body was suddenly seized with a strong and painful, but familiar current of electricity. He was caught between a gasp and a scream as his body was thrown back and he was slammed into the road about half way out. Choking for air he didn't do anything other than lay there, his mind trying to catch up with what had just happened as his chest jumped with every jerky intake. If he thought that he'd been in pain beforehand it was nothing compared to this.

Rolling over was enough of a chore to leave him panting for breath. He didn't even know how he was going to get to his feet or how he was going to get himself home, but he couldn't very well stay out here in the middle of the street. Regardless of the time of night he knew that some people would be leaving work, or the bars and the last thing that he wanted was to be spotted looking like he was now.

It had been a bad idea to come here when he already wasn't feeling the best, but at least he wasn't going to be slapped in the face upon his next visit. He would be able to know before hand what he was about to walk into. That didn't make his nearly smoking body feel any better however and he spat out an low curse as he dragged himself to the other side of the road. Sitting on the curb took the rest of his energy out of him, and he found himself bent forward, his head resting on his knees before he even realized what was happening.

This was the worst. It was so stupid. Why was he even out here? What if he couldn't make it home in time? What if his father went to his room to check on him and he wasn't there? All of these thoughts swam around his brain at the same pace as the throbbing along his body. Man did he ever fell awful.

He bit back on a groan when he heard a few muffled voices drawing closer to him, their shoes scuffing along his side of the sidewalk at a lazily pace. The closer they got the more he could feel his stomach turn with the want to be able to lift his head, his arm, anything in order to show that he wasn't as defenceless as he was. No matter how much he tried however the best he could do was to push his head away from his knees and give a halfhearted glare to the approaching trio.

As the group, all males in their mid twenties if he was guessing right, seemed to have spotted him all at the same time. He would have been amused at their lack of observation skills considering how close they had to get to notice him if it wasn't for the fact that he knew just what kind of trouble these people could stir up.

"Hey, what's this?" One guy asked, sounding bewildered at the sight of another human being on the sidewalk while the corner of the ghost's lip pulled back to give a weak snarl.

"Oh dude. I think he's more drunk than we are." The guy to his side snickered. From the way that he was swaying on his feet and for the fact that Danny could smell them from here he highly doubted it.

"Aw, what's wrong little fella." The third and finally one cooed, reaching out a hand that made Danny jerk back. "Did you lose your mamma?"

This question made the first guy, 'Leader', as Danny was now going to dub him, laugh out loud. The sound was sharp and set his nerves on edge, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up as Danny eyed Leader with a sharp distaste.

"You are so drunk right now Tyler." Leader said, pushing his friend away as he leered down at Danny.

The longer that he looked at Danny however the more that the boy found himself becoming uncomfortable. When Leader finally did make a move the ghost found that he didn't counter quick enough to keep the guy from getting a painful grip on his arm.

"The hells wrong with your eyes?"

"None of your business." Danny hissed back, finding from strength from somewhere to shove at the guy with his free hand. It didn't do much to shake the other off but it did allow from him to get some personal space back if only to help the sudden burning in his eyes and nose from the strong stench of the alcohol on the others breath.

"Well that's not very polite." The man said, his grin getting wide enough to be frightening as his teeth glew in the dull light of the streetlamps. "I was asking you a question."

Danny bit back on a sharp yelp as he tightened his grip on his arm. Normally he was sure that it wouldn't have really hurt that bad, but the guy was digging his sharp nails into a place where he'd been hit with Maddie's ectolaced bo staff.

Wow, he'd really gotten beat up tonight. He didn't even realize that he'd had that memory until it popped into his head to explain why his arm hurt more than normal. He was really going to have to start to get better control of his clones.

"I guess if you don't want to tell me, I could always take them." It wasn't the words so much the tone in his voice that made Danny's blood run cold.

Just what the hell was wrong with this guy? These were the people that Fenton was trying to protect? These people here? What was so great about them? What gave them a right to be assholes and jerks and get away with it?

"Leave me alone." Danny snapped, ignoring the pain that screamed through his whole body as he finally managed to shove the guy away, this time much harder.

It was no doubt more thanks to the alcohol that his strength when Leader fell over, landing on his ass and making his goons start laughing anew. If the look over his face was of any indication however Danny was sure that he'd made a terrible choice. The mockery of laughter from the ones he commanded made a flash of rage burn in his eyes. Eyes that were solely locked on Danny and his pathetic form.

"Listen here brat!" The man snapped, rolling back on to his feet and snatching up a fistful of the boy's jacket in order to yank them so close that their noses were pretty much touching. "I..."

"Hey!"

Danny never got to hear what the guy was going to say as the call interrupted him before he could finish. All four of them turned their heads to the sound of the voice and he would be lying if he told anyone that he wasn't shocked to see Hunter standing there. He was in full hunting gear, mask included, but it was still easy to see the firm scowl set over his face, and, with the way that his hand was resting on the gun at his side, his body language spoke loads of what he thought of the situation.

"Let him go and move on."

"Dude, its one of the hunters." Kyle, if Danny was remembering his name right, whispered to Leader who had let the boy go at some point.

"Shut up Tyler I can see that." Leader hissed back.

Oh. Kyle, Tyler. He'd been close. They both had an l, y, and an e in it.

Danny remained silent as the three shuffled away from him. There wasn't anything he could add anyways and he was to tired to give it an effort. Besides, if Hunter was going to use this time to catch him he was going to want to continue collecting the small amount of energy that he had. He wouldn't be able to get far but maybe he could phase though the ground and into the sewer. It would give him a major head start at the very least.

"Have a nice night boys." Fenton muttered after them, and Danny found himself unable to help a small scoff as they scurried away. Did he ever sound like some badly played cop drama show or what?

His laughter was cut short when the second that they had disappeared around the corner Fenton took a seat next to him.

"Here."

The white haired teen found himself blinking at the object held inches away from his face as if he'd never seen one before. It was just a simple can of pop, some sort of rootbeer if he was reading the label correctly, and sweat was dripping down the sides and over Fenton's fingers as he waited for him to take it. The sight of it made Danny's throat feel drier than it had just two seconds ago, but he couldn't find it in himself to grab the offered beverage.

What if this was some sort of trick? What if it was laced with something or..?

"Nights you should really drink this. It'll help to wake you up and give you some energy."

Looking passed the can to the face of the other Danny had no idea how to feel about receiving pity from the other male. Besides their mutual agreement not to kill each other when they weren't doing their 'jobs' Fenton didn't seem like he would be willing to go out of his way to help out his enemy. With the goggles covering his eyes however it was hard to get a good read on him and the more time passed between them the more the drink was looking better and better.

Carefully Danny moved just enough to gently take the can out of Fenton's hold. His ears tingled when the beverage let out a hiss once he'd cracked it open and he wasted no time in bringing it to his lips and taking a few deep gulps. It burned all the way down, but the feeling was familiar and he couldn't taste any sort of drug in it so he allowed his paranoia to pass for now. Lowering the half empty can from his lips he gave a small pant to try and help the feeling.

"Thanks Hunter." He muttered, lifting two fingers off of the cold skin of the tin to give a small salute of appreciation.

"Hunter?" Fenton repeated, a playful amusement in his tone as Nights swallowed down the rest. "I've noticed that you've called me that a few times but never my Mom. Is that a nickname or something?"

Danny gave a shrug of his shoulders as he let the now empty can dangle from his fingertips.

"You gave me one."

"Because I don't know your name." Fenton put in as he leaned back on his arms. "So I have to make one up for you. Why don't you use our names?"

"Figured that you didn't want people to know who you were." Danny mumbled, feeling the caffeine and the sugar do its thing as he pressed the still cool can to the pounding in his head. "Isn't that why you wear masks?"

A low chuckle from beside him made his own lips twitch upwards as Fenton knocked into him lightly, being mindful of the wounds he knew that he received this evening.

"You're such a weird ghost." he mumbled, his eyes turned to the sky when Danny turned to look at him.

"I could say the same thing." Danny muttered, knocking the can against Fenton's knee to wordlessly make his point.

Without a word the young hunter took the soda can from him but as their fingers brushed over one another Danny could feel something in his stomach flip. It was almost like that feeling he got when he was to tired to fly anymore and just dropped. Sudden and terrifying. Even when he jerked his hand back though the feeling remained. If Fenton thought it was weird he didn't comment on it, placing the empty can by his foot before wrapping his arms around his legs.

"What were you doing anyways?"

Making a pathetic attempt to wave at the boy's house Danny rubbed at his forehead with his free hand.

"You told me to see if I could get in." He explained. "Could have warned me about the electric protection though."

"Oh." Fenton hissed through his teeth, almost as if he was imagining the pain that would cause. "I didn't know about that part, sorry."

"It's fine."

Oddly enough he found that he believed Hunter about that. He had no idea why he did but he couldn't make himself believe in the idea of the darker haired male intentionally sending him into something so painful. At least not unless it was by his own hands. He'd proven tonight that he had no problem shooting him at all.

"You okay?"

They had been silent for so long that Nights had allowed his mind to drift. His shoulders jumped with the shock of the voice before he could force himself to give a nod of his head.

"Yup." He mumbled, popping the p while rubbing at his eyes. "Although I can tell I'm not going to enjoy fighting you, your mom, and your girlfriend all at once."

"Sam's not my girlfriend." The response was so quick that Danny found himself peering through his fingers to raise a skeptical brow at the other. "She my best friend, but we're not dating." Fenton confirmed as the ghost gave a small hum, showing that he understood but didn't really care. "Anyways," Hunter continued, "how are you fighting all of us at once anyways? There's no way that you can move that fast."

"Ghost trade secret." Danny muttered, his voice muffled by the hand pressed over his mouth.

"That's not a thing." Fenton pointed out, but there was still a small smirk on his face to show his amusement at the way that he had avoided the question. "But fine, I'll give it to you."

Not like he was going to give him an opportunity to get it. Still, it's not like every ghost could make clones. It took a lot of work and a lot of energy. There was very few that could actually do so. It wasn't like Fenton needed to know about that anyways. Most of the ghosts that were powerful enough to make doubles stayed in the Ghost Zone.

When he went to try straightening out his back Danny let out a sharp yelp, his cry of pain startling the male next to him enough to make him jump while he wrapped his arm around his stomach again.

"Whoa. Are you okay?"

Instead of answering him Danny just snarled. No. Obviously he wasn't okay. Although the drink had helped wake him up a little he still wasn't in any shape to go anywhere. He couldn't figure out why it was taking him so long to heal, but than again it had been a long time since his body had needed to heal this much this quickly. It must have just been getting back to its normal speed after being set to rest for so long.

"Sorry that was a stupid question." Fenton admitted, his hand hover just over the others shoulder as if he didn't know if resting it would put the boy in even more pain. "Is there anything that I can do?"

At this Danny couldn't help the bark of laughter that he all but spit passed his lips. Just where was this coming from? He'd thought that Fenton's whole life was catching and hurting ghosts, and yet here was one pretty much wrapped up with a bow tie and he was asking if there was anyway to help. It was almost as if he forgot that the moment that he let Danny go he would just go right back to getting in his way and freeing ghosts.

"I'll be fine in a few hours." He reassured him, choosing not to mention any of this thoughts just in case it would change the others mind.

"A few hours?" Hunter repeated, giving a shake of his head. "You can't stay out here that long. Someones bound to come by and start something with you."

"Than I'll finish it." Danny hissed, moving his hands back up to his head to try and rub away the pain once more.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Seeing that he wasn't going to go anywhere in the conversation Danny turned his attention to trying to rub the pain away in his head. When two more hands joined in he gave a violent jerk out of their reach, ignoring the scream of his healing wounds while his mouth fell open in a warning hiss and his eyes flashed a bright green. Hunter on the other hand didn't seemed to take the warning as the threat it was, simply giving the ghost a small smile as he kept his hands where they were.

"I'm really good at giving head massages." Hunter explained, "I have to give them to my Mom all the time whenever she gets headaches."

"Ugh, fine." Danny grumbled, shifting closer so that Fenton wouldn't have to reach as far. "Work your magic than."

It was hard for him not to flinch, even though he knew that it was coming the second time. Some how he managed though and even found himself sinking into the others touch just seconds in.

"How come we manage to do such a great number on you, but you never seem to so much as touch us?" Hunter asked, his voice seeming to drift in the air as softly as his touches.

"I'm not trying to kill you." Danny said.

When the hands went to pull back he quickly reached out and snatched them up by the wrist.

"Please don't stop." He muttered, refusing to call it begging as he pressed the palms back over to his temples. "It's actually working."

Ever so slowly Fenton started up again. This time they didn't speak as Nights all but sank into his touch. He had no idea that it could feel this good. Sure he'd given himself pathetic attempts at head massages plenty of times but none of them had ever felt like this. The pain in his head from before was barely even a whisper now in the few short minutes that the darker haired male had been working and Danny was hoping that if he could clear his head a bit more he might be able to speed up the rest of his healing process as well.

"You are, without a doubt, the weirdest ghost I know." Fenton said as Danny lifted his gaze to bring himself eye to eye with the other.

Although they were so close now that their noses could have bumped, Danny found that he didn't mind as he did just that before leaning into the hand that was closer to the worst source of the pain.

"I'm the only one who's bothered you enough for you to get to know." He clarified. "If you spent some time with the others you were hunting I'm sure you'd find them just as weirdly interesting as me."

Another bout of silence filled up the empty street as Hunter worked away Nights pain.


	11. Chapter 11

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 11

"Did you finish the math homework?"

"Oh," Danny came to a sudden stop under one of the many trees in the park as the question washed over him. "I knew there was something I was forgetting." He groaned while Tucker chuckled from beside him.

"It's cool dude. I'll let you copy mine and you can just take the answers from there." He said, his eyes moving back down to the hand held tracker that still remained blank.

"Thanks Tuck but I think it would be better if I did it on my own. I'll just spend lunch working on it." He sighed, his eyes shifting around the dark park as he looked for any type of ghost activity. "Where are they all?" Although he muttered the words out loud it was more of a question to himself than his best friend.

After he'd seen Nights outside his house that night he hadn't seen much of the other, or any other ghost for that matter. It had been about two weeks and they were slowly making their way to mid September, a time when ghost activity should have been higher than normal thanks to all the hustle and bustle and having a large majority of young energy in one place, and yet there had been pretty much nothing. He had no idea what had happened and the news was starting to sprout out that the hunters had managed to either scare the ghosts away or was just doing a phenomenal job at catching them. For once Danny was glad that they didn't do press conferences if only so he didn't have to stand in front of everyone and lie to their faces. He had no idea what was going on, but he feared if the public knew that than they might start to panic. Although he himself was happy about the lack of ghost activity he couldn't help but feel like it was the calm before the storm.

"I don't know." Tucker said. "Has Nights not told you anything?"

Snapping his head around to stare at his best friend Danny found himself once again pulling to a sudden halt. "What? Why would you assume that he would talk to me about something like that?"

He didn't know what to make of the quirked brow that his friend gave him. Almost as if Tucker believed that he was playing dumb or that Danny was really to stupid to understand what was being implied.

"Come on dude. There's a reason that you've been putting Sam behind the desk when you know that she's better out here than I am.

"I thought that it would be better for her to get some more experience in a field that she's not use to. Same goes for you. Strengthen your weakness and all that." Danny lied as he snatched the device out of Tucker's hand, more to help distract himself than to actually look for ghosts.

"Or is it because you didn't want her wailing on the guy at every chance that she got?" Tucker said, not willing to drop the subject as he continued forward, forcing Danny to move with him as well.

"It's not like that Tucker." He grumbled and for a moment he could almost believe himself.

Scoffing Tucker snatched the tracker back. "Whatever man. Just tell him to not try and kill me when he gets here."

"He doesn't even want to hurt us." The words slipped out before he could stop them. When Tucker stole a glance at him from the corner of his eye Danny ignored him, finding himself thankful when a bright green beep suddenly showed up in the corner of the little screen.

"Spector dead ahead." He mumbled, dropping his hand to his side to pull out his gun. "Looks like they're by the fountain."

"How do you want to do this?" Tucker asked, bringing his own hand up to the gun holstered at his side while his other hand lowered the tracker, probably thinking that the bright light would give them away.

Danny knew that he should have told Tucker to circle around to the other side, than while he had them distracted he could catch them easily and they could add it to their ever growing ghost prison or send them back to Walker if they were of no use to their research. That wasn't what he ended up suggesting however and he found that his next words shocked even himself.

"I want to see if I can talk to them."

If it had been anyone else they would have freaked. His Mom would have taken him straight home and run all sorts of tests to make sure that he hadn't been possessed or some how gotten brain damage, and Sam would have been the one to give him brain damage no doubt. Instead Tucker removed his hand from his gun just as Danny was holstering his and gave nothing more than a nod of his head.

The closer that they made their way towards the area the faster Danny's heart beat in his chest. He was starting to regret his decision, but he couldn't really change his mind now. Or well, he knew that he could really but he didn't want to. Still, walking into a ghost situation head on with no weapons drawn was never something that he'd done before and he could already feel his fingers twitching without the weight of his blaster for them to grasp to. He could even feel the sweat gathering in his palms and he tried to swallow passed a dry throat.

As they got closer however they shared a look at hearing the soft sound of music drifting into the air. When the fountain finally came into view he was shocked to not only see a ghost, but Nights there as well. Grabbing the device out of Tucker's hand with a little more force than necessary he stared down at it. There was a second dot on there, but it was so close and so faded compared to the other one that he really had to strain his eyes to see it. Pushing the device back over to Tucker and forcing him to take it Danny raised his goggled covered eyes once more to the scene in front of him.

He'd never seen this ghost before. She had wild blue hair that danced above her like a flame, clawing at the sky like a sapphire phoenix. Her skin was a pale grey shade and her eyes were the signature green of most ghosts but around them was wildly done eye makeup that really made them stand out. She wore a crop top with one shoulder strap and low raising pants that almost appeared painted on completed in heavy boots that looked like they could do some serious damage if she decided to use them as a weapon.

She was good looking, if Danny was allowed to say that about a ghost, but he felt a weird pull in his stomach the longer that he watched her strum away on her guitar while Nights sung along with her. They both looked really happy, like they were just two normal kids having fun. Like they weren't ghosts that had been people at one point only for something to tare the life from them and leave them as they were now.

When he heard Nights laugh he felt the same tugging feeling and an ache that started up in his chest. He'd never heard Nights laugh like that before. It was so open and carefree, so unguarded. Any bout of laughter that he managed at pull from the other always had a sharp sting to it, an undertone of bitterness that was well deserved but could have been without. It made sense for Nights to be more open with his own kind, and Danny knew that, they were enemies at the end of the day, but the sight still left him with a sore spot.

"Wonder if that's his girlfriend."

His eyes narrowed even more than they already were as the hunter crossed his arms over his chest tightly, a scowl pulling at his lips as he watched the song come to an end. He chose to ignore Tucker's statement, uncaring on whether it held any truth or not and instead continued his walk forward.

"Nights!"

Both of the ghost turned to face him, the girl instantly going on the defence while Nights grinned over at him. Danny found his scowl deepening at the sight of the smile over the others face. It wasn't the same one he'd just had not even two seconds ago. This one was sharper and almost held a more shield like quality to it than the open friendliness he'd had with her just moments before.

"Hunter!" Nights cheered, lowering himself to the ground and landing next to the girl who switched her gaze from the ghost and the hunter.

"You know him?" Her voice was a low hiss and Danny found himself confused about how she would know him. He'd never hunted her before, he would have remembered that, so how did she know him? Were ghosts actually warning each other? Were his mother and he becoming that well known in the Ghost Zone?

He felt an odd flame of something he couldn't pinpoint flick deeply in his chest when Nights turned his attention away from him to talk to the girl.

"In a way. We run into each other a lot when we're working."

Danny had no idea why that made her laugh, but it only made the small feeling in the pit of his stomach grow and he found that he had to bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything he might regret later.

"Hey Nights."' Tucker said, his greeting caring a much more friendly tone as he waved at the ghost. "Long time no see."

Nights eyes flashed a bright green, showing just how wide they were for a moment as he hopped back into the air, his hands coming to his mouth before he shot them out towards Tuck with a giant smile on his face.

"Tucker!" He cheered, all to happily greeting the darker skin male while Danny grumbled lowly to himself. "I didn't know you were a hunter too."

"I mostly work at the desk or doing light patrols." Tucker admitted as he waved the tracker in the air in order to help emphasizes his point. "I'm more of a techno geek than an ghost fighter."

"Fair enough." Nights said, giving a simple wave of his hand and destroying the device.

Tucker quickly dropped the object. Just staring at its smoking remains before he lifted his head up and gave him a small frown.

"Guess I should have hidden that huun?"

"Ya," Nights agreed, his smile never once leaving his face while the girl next to his said gave a roll of her eyes. "Anyways what do you guys want? You're not aiming guns at us so I can only assume that this is some sort of trap."

"Actually no, D...uh, Hunter, wanted to talk to you guys."

"Oh?"

He had no idea why the oddly tight feeling in his stomach all but vanished when Nights turned to face him once more. Still it was nice to be noticed again and not ignored so he didn't bother allowing the smile he felt to crawl on his face. Besides, he could almost predict that they were going to clash heads with his next few words and he didn't want to be off his guard for that.

"You told me I should try talking to them instead of just attacking them. Thought I could at least give it a shot."

The stranger and Nights shared a look together, when her lips pinched together Danny felt himself tense. He had no idea what was running through her head but if she tried anything than he was going to be ready for it.

"Hello Miss," Danny said, offering his hand out to her making her eye it wearily, "I am the ghost hunter of Amity Park and I would like to ask you to leave."

"What?"

He could already see the energy spilling off of her in waves while Nights shifted a little, as if he too was getting ready for the worst outcome.

"Trust me, you don't want to stay here." Danny continued. "There is a very low tolerance for ghosts in this area and if you are caught by any of the team they will subject you to horrible experimentation and pain. If they chose that you're not worth their time than you will be sent back to Walker in the Ghost Zone."

This news seemed to shock even Nights as his mouth slipped open partially his eyes flashing green and this time staying there.

"Jesus, you guys are the worst."

Hearing those words from Nights left an odd taste in the back of his mouth that Danny chose to push to the background for now. His full attention was on the girl at his side who had narrowed her gaze to a knife like point. She hadn't made a move to attack him yet though and he counted himself lucky for that. With a sudden jerk of her head she turned back to face Nights who had once again landed beside her.

"I'm taking off, this place blows anyways." She scoffed, swinging her guitar behind her while she crossed her arms over her chest. "You coming?"

There was a long second where Danny was afraid that Nights would say yes. That he would give up his cause for this blue and black vixen and he would never see him again. A tidal wave of relief washed over him when Nights gave a small shake of his head with a light chuckle, placing his hands in his pockets as he leaned back slightly.

"Nah. I can't go." He said and the frown over the girl's face only deepened. "This is the first time that they've tried using their words rather than their guns. I've got to watch out for all of the others."

"You're a weirdo Hood." The girl said, and this time it was Danny's turn to be shocked at the hearing the name. Was that Nights' real name? Hood? While it was odd it wasn't unheard of. From the lack of panic over the boy's face however he highly doubted it, still, he was going to ask about that later. "But maybe I'll catch you on my come back tour."

"Wouldn't miss it Ember." Nights said, that stupid open smile over his face again while her hair burned even brighter.

Danny found himself squinting as it wrapped around her, covering her in a blinding light before she disappeared in a flash. He had to blink a few time in order to get the dots out of his eyes but once he had he was a little shocked to see that Nights was still there and that he hadn't taken off.

"Aw, bummer dude. Why didn't you go with your girlfriend?" Tucker asked, seeming genially disappointed.

"Girlfriend?" Nights echoed back, his voice showing his confusion. "I just met her a few hours ago."

"You guys seem pretty chummy." Danny muttered, for some reason unable to kept his voice neutral.

The shark like grin that Danny got in return was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

"What's the matter Hunter. You jealous?"

There were a few chosen words that he had sitting on the tip of his tongue, but he chose not to voice any of them and make matters worse.

"The rules I gave her," he muttered instead, not noticing the look that Tucker was giving to both of them, "they apply to you too you know."

Nights gave a small hum, landing on the ground once more. As his head tilted towards the sky his hands clasped together behind his back. Danny felt himself grow more tense by the second the closer that he got but didn't bother getting hostile just yet. Nights generally didn't attack without being attacked first.

"True." He said, bringing himself so close that Danny wouldn't even be able to drop his head to his chest without hitting the others shoulder. His whole body went stiff as a board when Nights leaned in, his surprisingly warm breath ghosting over the darker haired male's cheek as he hissed the next few words into his ear. "But you have to catch me first."

For some weird reason he felt like he'd just been zapped with a cattle prod, the jolt going straight to the core of his stomach as Nights let out a laugh and shot himself back into the sky.

A funny tingling had spread all across his body, leaving his heart hammering in his chest as he continued to glare at the place that the ghost had disappeared to long after he was out of sight. It wasn't until Tucker shifted at his side that he even remembered that his friend was there and he could feel the burn of a blush working its way over his cheeks from the holes that he could feel being burned into the side of his face.

"Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?" The techno geek asked, the smallest of smirks over his lips as he raised a brow at his friend.

Danny didn't even bother responding to that as he scooped up the broken device and headed back towards the way they had come from.


	12. Chapter 12

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 12

"And he fakes left, and goes right, and than he makes a shoot from halfway across the court and..." Danny tossed the ball over Valerie's head a huge grin on his lips as he watched it sail straight. "Nothing but net."

"Show off." Val snickered giving him a roll of her eyes before she jogged over to retrieve the ball.

Danny chuckled as he followed after her, making sure not to bump into any of the other kids and disturb them in their own games.

The gym always got a little crazy when the teacher gave them a 'Do as You Like' period. Mostly he figured that these classes were just so the teacher didn't have to teach but he'd been watching her carefully whenever they did. He saw that marking book of hers. He knew that she was taking notes on who was participating and who was just sitting in the bleachers. It always came as quite a shock whenever he noticed that Fenton's group was always there.

There had been plenty of times in the past five weeks where Danny had found himself in awe over Fenton's athletic ability. While Danny relied on having to do certain things through his ghostly ability, such as strength, speed, and a whole list of other things, Fenton never seemed to have to much of a problem keeping up with him. If anything Danny would have to say that Fenton was one of the best examples of top fitness he'd ever seen and yet the boy never showed any interest in making that known to everyone else. It was to bad really, he could have been the dream player that every coach was looking for, but in away he supposed that it made sense. If Fenton was trying to keep as low a profile as he could in order not to be recognized as the younger ghost hunter than keeping any talent that he had to himself would be best. After all it wouldn't take to long for some people to realize that they moved similarly and he's already seen a fair share of websites dedicated to finding out who he was.

He turned his attention back to his friend when he heard her dribbling the ball, green eyes watching as she set up her shot before taking it. The ball bounced off of the backboard, rolled around the ring twice, and fell straight in. Turning back to face Danny with a smirk she placed a hand on her hip. "Two points Valerie." She grinned while he brought a hand up to his heart.

"Foul play." He mocked as he bent over to scoop up the ball. "You didn't even give me a chance to steal the ball."

"Oh no, I did." Val said, her eyes shifting over to the bleachers as a small smile tugged at her lips. "You were just a little...distracted."

Quick as a whip Danny felt his whole face flush and embarrassingly bright red. He had no idea why it happened, really it shouldn't have been that embarrassing that she called him out on it. From her tone and the look on her face however he could tell that she was thinking that he was checking out one of the girls that had taken residence there, which would mean that if she could have been able to tell than that would mean that she thought that he was checking out Fenton. That thought alone should have made his heart jump in his throat, but it did.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He muttered, tilting his head towards the ground so that she wouldn't be able to see just how red his face was. He could have sworn that he was giving off steam at this point.

"Wait a second, are you shy?" She snickered, ducking her head so that she could peer at what he was trying to hide. "I never thought you would have been the shy type."

"I'm not." Danny shot out quickly, holding the ball to his chest while he gave a loose shrug of his shoulders. "Just, you know, I've been running around a lot and my face gets red when I work hard."

Obviously not believing him Val continued to smirk as she looked towards the bleachers again.

"So who is it anyways?" She asked while Danny found himself rolling his eyes at her nosiness. "Please tell me it's not Sam. That girl is smitten with Fenton and I think that they're going out. You wouldn't want to cause problems there."

"They're not going out."

It took him a moment to realize that the had said those words out loud. He pressed his lips into a thin line as Valerie turned her attention back to him with a skeptical brow and a smirk over her lips. The look over her face made it seem as if she had won something, but Danny couldn't begin to tell her how wrong she was. Not only did he not have a thing for Sam, seriously she was scarier than Fenton when it came to hunting and fighting, but he also didn't have a thing for Fenton. If anything their actions and taunts were playful. Nothing else.

So why did he feel like something had tightly coiled in his stomach at the thought of Sam and Fenton dating?

"Oh really?" Valerie questioned, her voice to light and airy for there not to be some sort of interrogation coming up. "And how would you know that?"

Taking a shot at the net Danny scowled when it bounced off the back and fell to the side. "He told me."

Neither of them said anything as he went to jog after the ball. His mind was in such a frazzled state that he didn't even notice that someone else had picked up the ball until he nearly ran right into them. Really he couldn't help but wonder just how he could have been so blind. Considering that Dash had been the one to pick it up and he was as big as a mountain Danny must have really been out of it.

"Can I have my ball back Dash?"

Although Dash had given him a hard time within his first few minutes of being in school he'd mostly left Danny alone after he managed to humiliate him in front of some of the other stragglers. Maybe he was done licking at his wounds now and wanted a rematch. While Danny wasn't sure he was in the mood to even bother listening to the guy if he felt like trash talking him or trying to rope him into a fight his only other topic of conversation with anyone was going to be Val and trying to figure out who he'd been eyeing at the bleachers.

"Well actually," Even the way that Dash started the sentence, his eyes turned away from Danny and an uncharacteristically nervous look over his face made Danny wonder just what was going on, "Me and Kwan were wondering if you and Valerie wanted to play a game of two on two."

Wait. Was he asking them to play with him? Didn't he hate both of them?

"Uh..."

"Just so you don't get any funny ideas," Dash continued, his normal scowl over his face as he glared back at Danny, shoving the ball back hard enough in his chest to nearly wind the boy, "we're only asking since you two are the only ones worth playing here and we wanted at least even a little competition."

"A little?" A smirk curled over his lips while his bright green eyes flashed for the briefest of moments. Giving a click of his tongue he turned back to face Valerie to see that she had carefully been watching their interaction from underneath the net. "Hey Val!" He called, seeing her relax at the giant smile over his face. "You want to wipe the floor with Dash and Kwan?"

He took the sudden smile over her face as a yes and when she started walking towards them he turned back to see that Dash was now openly glaring at him.

"You've got yourself a game Dash."

Dash just glared at him, but soon enough his scowl turned into a smirk of his own as he crossed his huge arms over his thick chest.

"I don't know if I would call it that. I'm not expecting much."

Danny felt the blood in his veins sing in excitement for the upcoming slaughter he was sure was going to happen as Valerie joined his side and Kwan came up on Dash's side.

(***)

"Well it seems that Phantom has no problems fitting in."

Danny looked up from the blueprints his mother had sent him with at Sam's words. Looking across the gym he was actually a little shocked to see that she was right. Phantom and Valerie were in an intense looking match with Dash and Kwan, and yet, rather than looking annoyed or angered by the competition the two jocks were actually smiling. Even Paulina and Star had gotten in on the excitement, cheering for both sides while the rest of the class had chosen to sit out and just watch.

He'd always thought it was odd just how some people seemed to put no effort into getting noticed and yet they always seemed to be the ones to attract peoples attention the most. While he himself didn't share every class with Phantom he did have a fair chuck of them together.

Other than the fact of noticing that they looked just like one another Danny hadn't really given the guy much of a thought after that. That didn't mean that he hadn't noticed him however. He'd watched Phantom getting girls numbers within five minutes of talking to them and other than Dash he didn't seem to have any problems with talking to any of the kids from the higher social structure. Now that he looked like he was getting along well with Dash to however Danny could pretty much predict that he was going to be the most popular kid around the school in a little less than two weeks.

"You'd think that for someone who isn't even from around here they would give him a harder time." Tucker put in, not lifting his eyes away from his PDA while Sam scoffed.

"What did you expect? People are mindless sheep and that guy's a Shepard. He just pulls them in. The teachers don't even get mad when he ditches class to 'go to the bathroom'. They just let him do whatever he wants."

"That would be nice." Danny put in, his eyes staying on the one they were talking about as he thoughts. "I mean how many times have I had to get out of class to go fight ghosts and haven't been able to do so?"

"Speaking of catching ghosts." Sam said, drawing Danny's attention away from the game in front of them so he could face his best friend. "When am I allowed to go back on patrol?"

Oh, right. He'd been keeping Sam off of that for about a week now. His 'trying to strengthen her weak areas wasn't going to hold up forever. She was to smart for that and caught on to quickly. Still, he hadn't managed to get Nights to agree to get out of town and he really didn't want her out there with him knowing how much she despised that one ghost in particular.

"Just give me another week." He said, his eyes moving back over to watch as Phantom received a nuggie from Kwan to distract him, a giant smile over the boy's face while Valerie stole the ball from Dash. "Two weeks should be good for you behind the monitors."

"Fine."

Sam grumbled at his choice but she didn't push any. Tucker on the other hand shot him a knowing look that he all to easily ignored.


	13. Chapter 13

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 13

"Is that the best you've got?"

Danny had to hold back on screaming out in frustration at Nights taunting.

It had been a week since he'd met Ember and Nights had taken off, and Danny had been trying to track the guy down so he could get to him before he would have to let Sam back on, but he ended up being a ghost. Well, he already was a ghost, but he'd been even more impossible to find. There were no words that he could use that would even begin to describe how beyond infuriated he was at this point when Nights finally decided to show up-on Sam's first night back.

"Nights you need to get out of here!" Danny snapped, trying to wave the other off if only to get him out of the area for now. He knew that Sam was down at the arcade, but he didn't doubt her abilities to get to the Nasty Burger quicker than any other person he knew.

"Ya, well we both know that isn't going to happen." Nights grinned, his teeth showing the sharpness of his smile and his amusement.

"Nights be serious right now." Danny stopped everything that he was doing. He lowered his hands, became completely still, and holstered his weapon. When he made no move to attack the other again Nights finally stopped and really looked at him. He didn't lower himself to the ground, choosing to stay a good six feet in the air, but at least he wasn't spinning around like an idiot anymore and he was actually paying attention.

"Sam's out tonight." He hissed, his bright blue eyes narrowing behind auburn goggles. "You have to get out of here or skip town. She's not going to put up with you being around this area for much longer and when she really decides to go for you, you're going to get hurt."

The ghost gave a tilt of his head as he processed the information. Ever so slowly he finally lowered himself to the ground and placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket. His smile had disappeared in to the darkness of his hood, proof that he was no longer grinning in his odd excitement.

"What are you talking about? I've dealt with Sam before. She's nothing that I can't handle." He said.

Fighting back from giving a hard roll of his eyes Danny walked up to the other. "You have no idea just what she's capable of Nights." He warned. "She was trying to catch you so that my mother and I could... well you know..." His voice trailed off as they both looked away from one another in a bout of awkwardness. Shaking it off however Danny turned back to the other with a tight scowl over his face. "She's not going to come at you with the intent to catch you anymore Nights. She wants to kill you."

A click of his tongue was all the ghost boy gave to show that he had heard. Danny watched him carefully as he rolled his shoulders back, standing straighter than the hunter could remember. He was normally more at ease and his posture spoke loads of what he thought about any situation he was in. Obviously he was taking Danny's information to heart, but what he was going to do with it there was no telling. Still he was holding out hope that Nights' would listen to him and make himself scarce.

"She wouldn't be the first."

The words were muttered, but Danny caught them as if they had been whispered right into his ear. Sure he had assumed that there must have been other hunters out there that had gone after Nights, he was an annoying spirit after all and a cocky one at that, but from the way his general attitude was with hunters Danny wouldn't have thought that any of them had posed much of a threat. From the way that the boy was standing now, the tense posture of his pose, even being unable to see his face Danny could still tell that whatever Nights was being reminded of was a very serious attempt on his afterlife.

He had to make sure that Nights was going to be alright though. He had to make sure that he got out of here before Sam managed to get here and take care of him. He didn't know why. Really the last thing he should have wanted was for Nights to get away and yet he'd gone out of his way for the past two weeks to make sure that just the opposite happened. There was no way that he could explain his odd behaviour to anyone, he couldn't even do it for himself, but that didn't change his mind on the subject at all.

Bringing his hand up Danny rubbed at his forehead. " Look I need you to go."

The teeth were back. They were pulled open in a form of an almost animal like snarl as he suddenly took his hands out of his jacket and made a move towards the dark haired male.

"What? You expect me to cave at the first sign of trouble? You don't think I wasn't expecting to be strapped down to some examination table or to be rendered down to nothing more than goo if I ever got caught?" He hissed, now right up in Danny's face, the smell of his breath caressing the hunter's face.

For a moment Danny was actually startled that it smelt good. Like the fresh mints that Tucker sometimes popped in his mouth before he tried to hit on a girl. That couldn't be right. Ghosts didn't smell very good in the first place, if they smelt like anything at all. A smell like that was mostly something that only humans had.

He was so caught up in his new discovery of this small, and maybe pointless, detail that he didn't notice how much closer Nights had drawn until he could feel cold fingers sliding over his throat. His whole body froze, he couldn't move even if he wanted to when he locked eyes with the brightest pair of green he'd ever seen. The fingers slid up his throat, lightly trailing over his jawbone before Nights grabbed a hold of his chin and pulled him even closer. His whole mouth felt as if it was suddenly filled with cotton, and his heart was pounding so hard in his chest he could have sworn it was going to break his ribs and pop right out. He had no idea what Nights was doing, or what he was even trying to get at, but he couldn't find it in himself to pull away or make the other stop.

"As lowly as you might think of me Fenton," hearing his name on the others lips sent an odd thrill down his spine that he forced himself to suppress, "I'm not an idiot. You think that I don't know what your end game is? What will happen to me if I fail? I know better than anyone about what happens to failures. I know what happens to those who are to weak to protect themselves from people like you."

A startled yelp escaped passed his lips when he was suddenly shoved. Not having any time to gather his balance he uselessly waved out his arms, landing without an ounce of grace flat on his ass. Nights simply scoffed, and Danny felt his face flush in embarrassment over having been thrown off guard so easily. He scrambled to his feet just as Nights pushed himself back into the air.

"I'm not running, and I'm not backing down on this Hunter." Any source of playfulness he'd ever had before was no where to be found as he spoke. Danny felt his stomach roll as Nights turned his back on him, but it seemed he wasn't quite done. "I'm one of the strongest ghosts that you'll ever meet, and therefore it's my job to make sure that the rest of them stay out of your hands."

"Nights!" He had no idea what he was doing. He didn't know why he was calling the other back when he was leaving just as Danny had wanted him to. When Nights stopped, lowered himself to the ground and faced Danny, he found that he didn't care.

Without even thinking his decision all the way through Danny ran up to the hooded male and threw his arms around him. Nights let out a strange sound, one that no doubt came more from shock than anger while Danny tightened his hold for only a brief moment before pulling back.

"Be careful."

Nights didn't say anything. He just stood there, his mouth open agape in surprise and his eyes flashing green in the darkness of his hood. When the ghost finally collected himself he gave the hunter a stiff wave before he just disappeared from his sight.

What was he doing? That was the perfect time to catch Nights. That would have been the perfect moment to get rid of this pain in the ass that had been bothering him for about a month and a half now. He could have used the thermos that he had strapped to his hip to just suck him up when Nights had been thrown off of his game. So why on earth hadn't he done any of that?

"~Um, Danny?~"

Oh ya. Right. He'd forgotten to turn off his communicator. Tucker. Tucker had heard all of that.

Biting back on a groan Danny dropped his head into his hand as he let out a long sigh.

"Ya Tuck?"

"~You know dude, I can't help but start to think that there might be something going on between you and this ghost.~" Tucker said, his voice carrying a playful edge to it as Danny scowled at the air.

"Nothing is going on Tucker. That doesn't even make any sense. As you said yourself he's a ghost."

"~Yup. And you're a hunter dude. Shouldn't you have, I don't know, caught him by now?~" The taunting of his friend was reminding him way to much of Nights right now and Danny could only handle so much of it in one night. "You know this could be like the perfect Romeo and J..."

"I'm turning in for the night." Danny snapped, knowing that his friend would continue to dig into it and pry if he didn't.

"~What? Already? But it's only ten fifteen.~"

"Ya I know." Danny muttered, turning around to start heading back to his house. "But Nights is gone and I highly doubt that we'll find any other ghosts lurking around tonight. Besides I'm tired." He continued, forcing a fake yawn passed his lips while Tucker sighed from the other end.

"~I'll inform your Mom and Sam than.~"

"Alright." Danny switched off his communicator as he left the glowing sign of the Nasty Burger behind.

He probably wasn't even going to be able to sleep tonight. He had way to much thinking to do.

(***)

Danny sat on the fire escape stairs outside his window looking up at the moon. It wasn't full, more of a quarter than anything, and yet it still managed to shine more light down his street than the countless amount of lamps that lined the sidewalks.

His brain still felt fried. Getting that hug from Fenton had left his mind numb and his stomach twisting in knots. He knew he wasn't going to be able to focus for the rest of the night so he just called back his clones and headed home. But even after he found that he couldn't shake the feeling off. It was just a stupid hug. It shouldn't have meant anything. So than why couldn't he stop thinking about it?

Cursing lowly to himself Danny placed his elbows on his knees and rubbed at his eyes. He had no idea what to make of this situation or who he could...

Valerie.

Jumping off the side of the building he floated down until he was at Val's window. It was pitch black, which wasn't to surprising given the time of night and the fact that they had school tomorrow, but he found himself knocking on her window anyways. Just as she through the blankets off of herself he remembered that she had no idea that he was half ghost and quickly landed on the stairs outside of her window. Throwing his leg over the bar and bringing himself to the right side of the steps he waited for her to come to the window.

She seemed to fumble around the room for a moment, flicking on a lamp beside her window and nearly let out a scream upon seeing Danny there. With a nervous smile set over his face he gave the glaring girl a small wave.

"Danny." She hissed as she pushed open her window. "What on earth are you doing?"

"I need to ask you a question."

He didn't wait for her to give the go ahead as he slid passed her and into her room. She gave out a low huff, sliding the window back down before she turned to face him. Danny on the other hand didn't know what his real plan was and decided to stall for time by looking around her room.

It wasn't what he thought it was going to look like. He figured that there would have been posters of boy bands everywhere and a countless amount of gossip magazines with glossy covers and thin girls telling you how you could, 'lose that ten pounds while still eating what you want'. What he got instead was a very plain set up.

A dresser pushed to one side that had a photo of her and her Dad on it, and surprisingly a picture of some of the cool kids and her at school. Dash, Kwan, Paulina and Star were all in it with her smiling at the camera. It didn't even look like it was that old of a picture, or at least Valerie's hair was around the same length and style and she didn't look any different. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened between them all. They looked like pretty good friends. Turning his attention away from that he took note of a dresser that she had, which appeared to be covered in homework that was most of the way done. In the corner of her room as well was a fair amount of workout equipment. Giving a nod of his head he finally turned back to face her.

"I thought it would be girlier in here." He admitted, feeling slightly sheepish by the skeptical brow she raised at him.

"Danny can you please take off your hood at least? You know so I can see your face?"

Oh, right. He'd completely forgotten about that. Pulling his hood back he than moved to shove both of his hands inside the pockets of his jacket.

"Better?"

"Much."

With a sigh she moved back to her bed and sat down. Not knowing what else to do Danny just stood in the middle of her room, his eyes glancing everywhere but at her.

"Okay," She muttered once she was comfortable, "what's going on?"

His mind came up blank. His mouth was opened but no words were coming out as he clenched and relaxed his hands out of view.

What was going on? He had no idea! He'd never felt this way about someone before, much less a dude. He didn't even know what it was that he was feeling. All he could think of was that he just needed to talk to someone about it. But he couldn't even being to describe what 'it' was. Well, that wasn't completely true. He supposed that maybe he did kinda, sorta, somewhat know what was going on but...

"How do you know if you like someone?"

She seemed caught off guard by his outburst. Her wide eyes just blinking at him for a moment while he bit down on the corner of his lip. Maybe it hadn't been the smartest idea to pretty much yell that, but if he hadn't spitted it out he knew that he wouldn't have been able to go through with asking. After a long stretch of awkward silence however she finally regathered herself.

"Well, what kind of like do you mean? You talking about like, liking someone?"

'Like, liking'? God, had he really been degraded back to ninth grade statues of talking about cruches? Ugh.

Fighting the blush on his cheeks Danny grumbled lowly to himself as he kicked at the floor underneath his feet. At the light chiming of laughter from Valerie he could tell that she had caught on to what he was getting at.

"So who's the lucky girl?" She questioned, and he could just hear the smug smirk in her grin.

"I'd rather not mention names." Danny muttered, his voice more on edge than normal and his whole stance stiff.

"Okay than." She backed off very quickly, and had he not been so thankful for it Danny might have wondered why. It didn't make any sense for her to back down to something so easily. Valerie didn't stop until she had everything that she wanted from someone. Information and the time it took be damned. She would get it. Instead however she just pushed herself off of the bed and made her way over to him slowly.

When Danny caught the sight of her feet in his view he lifted his gaze and locked eyes with her pale green ones.

"I think you've already got the answer there Danny." She said, her arms crossed over her chest while he opened his mouth to protest. "Just sleep on it." She said, waving him off before he could say anything else and than placing her hand on his shoulder. "Why are you so worried anyways? You don't seem like the type to be freaked out about liking someone. You've nearly managed to get almost every girls number in our grade anyways."

Sighing Danny brought his hand up to run through his hair. "Ya I know." He mumbled while her hand dropped from his shoulder. "This ones just... a bit more complicated."

She gave a nod of her head, her brows pinching in concern while he gave her a small smile.

"Thanks Val." He said.

Than, an idea came to mind. Without giving her any warning Danny trapped the girl in a close hug. She let out a small squeak, but he barely paid it any mind. He was trying to see if hugging her had the same effect. If his stomach still swooped dangerously or if his heart speed up. He wanted to see if his face would go red from how close they were or the press of her body against his. To his never ending annoyance for the night, he felt absolutely nothing.

Letting her go he gave her a playful grin, trying to play off the random hug before he turned his attention back to her window.

"Alright, well, I guess I'm going to go and think through a few things."

"Don't hurt yourself." She scoffed, a smirk on her face as she leaned against the wall next to her window.

He shot her a harmless sneer and than stepped over the window ledge and placed his boot on the metal bar on the other side softly enough to not make a sound.

"Night Valerie."

With a soft smile on her face she gave a roll of her eyes as she placed her hands on the top of the window.

"Night Danny."


	14. Chapter 14

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 14

Since the moment that he'd woken up this morning Danny couldn't seem to wipe off the large smile that had taken up permanent residence on his face. So far he'd carried it with him all through the better part of the morning, and lunch. Now as he was sitting in art class, mindless doodling away on a piece of blank paper rather than listening to the teacher blathering on about art history, he still couldn't find any way to wipe it off. In the same breath he also couldn't figure out just what was causing his good mood, and he could tell that it was starting to freak out both Tucker and Sam a little bit.

As he lifted his free hand from the paper so that he could rest his chin against his palm, his eyes cast a glance over what he'd been scratching away at. His hand came to a sudden halt, his head lifting off of his palm as he took in what he'd been sketching for the better part of the last twenty minutes.

The paper was filled with little cartoon drawings of two characters drawn in little comic like poses. He felt a light blush burn over his cheeks at the sight of both him and Nights over the otherwise white surface and was grateful that the public wasn't aware of the boy. Thankfully it just looked like he was doodling some random made up comics that wouldn't make sense to anyone but him.

Placing down his pencil he carefully lifted up a corner of the sheet so that he could take a closer look at it without drawing the teachers attention. Some of them were just of Nights floating around, sometimes he was even upside down, his mouth pulled into a wide grin as soundless laughter slipped passed his lips. There were a few others of them grappling one another, and some of them where they were doing nothing more than glaring at one another. In the very bottom corner he even caught a glance of them playing a game together, sit Nights sitting between his legs and biting down on his tongue in concentration. He had one where he'd finally caught the boy with the Thermos and another one with Nights pouting behind bars. In the other corner of the page it showed Nights laughing evilly as he sat like a cat perched on top of Danny's back, while he was dressed up in his hunter gear of course.

Finally his eyes moved to the last one. One where Hunter Danny was holding onto a leash with a smug smile on his face while Nights growled from his sitting place on the floor.

Thankfully his mind had done well to make sure that Danny hadn't exposed himself in any of the pictures. In every one his mask was on, and all that could be seen of cartoon Nights was his teeth, whether they be pulled back into a snarl or some form of a smirk. Really it made sense to draw Nights that way. He'd never seen his face before and really the only face that he could ever imagine putting it to was Phantom. No doubt thanks to his last name though.

As he leaned back to look back at it some more he finally felt the smile sliding off of his face as he bounced the pencil in his hand up and down soundlessly. He'd always thought that it was a little strange that Nights never let anyone see his face, and although he'd never really gotten around to asking the boy about it he was starting to assume that 'Hood' wasn't his real name either. It felt to... well it just reminded him to much of the way that Nights called him Hunter and Danny called him Nights. It felt like something that ghost had just started calling him just to give him an identity. What on earth was he gaining from hiding though? It's not like he had some secret identity like Danny did.

"If you don't want me to be drawing any conclusions you might want to stop making it so easy dude." Tucker whispered.

Even though his voice had been close to silent, the suddenness of it made Danny jump. His movements jarred the paper enough that it slipped from his grasp and before he could snatch it back, fell to the floor. It landed with the most delicate of scrapping noises next to the chair of the person in front of him.

"Tucker!" Danny hissed under his breath, earning an apologetic shrug from his friend before both of their eyes snapped over to the paper.

The teacher hadn't noticed anything and at least that was something. Danny had no idea what he would say if she held his work up in front of the class. He just knew that everyone would no doubt start laughing and think he was one of the younger hunters fanboys with some huge stupid crush. She appeared to be far to into her lecture on art history to notice much about what was going on in her classroom though. That didn't seem to stop the person who the paper had fallen next to from noticing it though. There was nothing more that Danny wanted to do than to jump up and snatch it back, but he knew that action would just draw even more unwanted attention. Instead he found that there was nothing else that he could do other than to sit back and bit his lip as he watched the white haired teen slowly lean over and scoop up the paper.

A slow burn of embarrassment spread over his cheeks and he wanted to do nothing more than to drop his head on the desk and refuse to get up. He could already imagine the strange stare that Phantom was going to be giving him, and he could do without the judgment of the new, yet quickly becoming popular teen.

Although he and the other Danny looked pretty much identical they were really nothing a like and the two spent more time avoiding each other than ever really getting to know the other. That was all fine by Danny though, he already had Sam and Tucker as best friends and he couldn't help but notice that Phantom was really close to Val, she was sitting right next to him at that very moment, and he was effortlessly gaining the positive attention of his peers as well. Still though, he could sometimes swear that the white haired teen was staring at him when he wasn't looking and there was something about his laugh that always maybe Danny do a double take. There was just something so familiar and yet so different about the boy that the young Fenton had no idea if he should be drawn in or head in the other direction.

He scowled slightly to himself when he saw the other pick up a pencil and he could only imagine all of the terrible things he was going to do on the paper without even needing to see it. There was no doubt going to be unnecessary facial hair and uni-brows on the round cartoon faces and maybe even some other things he didn't want to think about. It didn't seem to take him that long to ruin the picture though as he pretended to yawn and tossed it back to the boy now crumpled up in a little ball.

With a frown Danny worked on smoothing it out and glared at the writing written across the words next to his last picture.

Like that would even happen :P It would be more like this

Raising a brow at the words he followed the arrow that was crudely drawn on the page until his eye's landed on a new drawing in the top corner of the page. It was another cartoon drawing of the two, looking to be drawn in a style eerily similar to his own but he didn't remember drawing it. It had Danny dressed up as the hunter, but not wearing his mask, and he was all tied up with a bow and a pout on his face while Nights held the leash with a smirk, his eye's quickly drawn in with a bright green pen.

For a moment Danny just scowled at the picture, knowing and not liking, that he was being mocked. It hit him a second later however as his mouth slipped open. Wide baby blue eyes narrowed in on the picture. Seeing the lack of his mask and the green eyes of Nights in a whole new manner.

Phantom had drawn Danny as the ghost hunter. He'd given Nights green eyes.

How on earth did he know that? Danny hadn't added any of those details in any of his drawings. The true identity of the young hunter was still unknown to everyone, and as he had been thinking before the public had yet to catch wind of Nights. So how in the world did Phantom know what colour his eyes were? Phantom hadn't been anywhere near them either when Nights had appeared that one time at school.

Where was he getting this information from? Was he just playing with Danny? Was he just messing with his head? Green eyes weren't very common, but he supposed that they were common enough. Maybe it was just the first colour that Phantom had picked up. Maybe he was just poking fun at Danny for drawing pictures of the hunter and decided it would be funny to make him the guy without knowing that that's who Danny really was.

Looking back up he felt the red return to his pale cheeks when he noticed the green eyes looking at him from over a thin shoulder, a small smirk tugging on the corner of his lips as he stared at the boy intently enough to make his stomach flip. Those eyes though... The challenge in them, the playful mockery. They were so familiar. They were just like... no, they couldn't have been. It wasn't possible.

Glaring back at him and trying to play it cool Danny just rolled his eyes before sinking in his chair with his arms crossed firmly over his chest.

Phantom let out a soft chuckle before he turned back to face the teacher, although he seemed to be listening more to what Val was talking about as they whispered back and forth. Danny on the other hand glared at Phantom's back for a moment before his eye's drifted back down to the sheet that laid on his table.

"Did he draw that?" Tucker whispered as he pointed to the newest drawing while Danny nodded his head. "Okay you both are a little strange." The techno geek mumbled with a roll of his eye's before he turned his attention back to his PDA, which he was hiding under the desk.

Danny just glared at his friend as well for a moment, wishing for once that Sam took the same art class as they did so that he could see what she would think of it. There definitely had to be something really strange about the fact that Phantom seemed to know who he really was and yet didn't show to give a dam, and the fact that he knew a detail or really any detail about Nights was more than a little unsettling. Could it be that Phantom was stalking him or something? Waiting at just the right moment to black mail him and... well do something? Demand money? Threaten his family? Stuff that bad people did. Did he stumble upon them one time when he'd taken off his mask in order to talk with Nights when they hadn't been arguing about catching or freeing ghosts?

His frown pulled down even deeper as he thought, he was so lost in his own little world in fact that he didn't notice when Phantom had raised his hand and excused himself from the class before slipping out of the room. The only reason his attention was pulled back was because of Tucker elbowing his side in order to show him a new message from his mom.

There's a ghost nearby your school Sweetie. I would nab him myself but I'm dealing with one down by the docks. Be careful and remember to listen to your teachers!

With a roll of his eye's once again Danny raised his hand tiredly while Tucker just snickered from beside him.

"Yes Fenton?"

"Can I use the bathroom please?" He asked as the teacher frowned.

"I'm afraid that Phantom is there for the moment. He should be back soon. Once he gets back you may go."

Growling to himself as he sat back deeply in his chair Danny crossed his arm's over his chest. Why did it seem that whenever he needed to get out of class Phantom always beat him to it? The guy had to have the worst timing available.

(Ghost)

Could he have possibly been any dumber? How could he have made such a stupid mistake? In the moment it had seemed like a good idea. He thought it was going to be funny. Instead he'd nearly exposed himself, in fact he might just as well have. Fenton had to be an idiot not to realize the mistake that he made, or really dense. There was no reason that he could give that drawing the picture would be a good idea, but he'd just seen the little doodles that Hunter was drawing and he'd been flattered. He wanted to draw one back and see what the other thought. From the look on Fenton's face he did not seem happy with what he got. Still, Danny couldn't help but think it was kind of cute how Hunter was thinking of him even if they weren't fighting or hanging out.

He felt a somewhat goofy smile coming to his lips as he thought of the word cute with Hunter. Really he supposed it was suiting, actually sexy might be the better word for him, but Danny wasn't to picky on which one he was going to land on.

After visiting Valerie last night he'd stayed up until the early rays of the morning to think about it. The more that he thought about it the more that he slowly came to the conclusion that he might have really had a thing for Fenton, and when he was saying 'might have' he meant he really did. It was really odd, and kind of freaked him out a little at the realization, but he got over it well enough. He'd never had problems with gay people and he himself was leaning more towards bi so he didn't have to struggle with some internal freak out all night long. Nope, the fact that Fenton was a boy wasn't the worst part about his realization. It was the fact that he was a ghost hunter. From a ghost hunting family. With ghost hunting friends.

Really could he have chosen a worse person to fall for?

Pulling his mind from his thoughts Danny gave a look around for the one that had made his ghost sense go off. He couldn't help but wonder if this was another young ghost. Oddly enough it seemed that the ones that haunted this city were more among the younger variety than most. It didn't seem to matter how much he looked though, he couldn't spot them anywhere. His brows pushed together, creating a crease in his brow while he brought himself higher into the air to see if maybe he was just getting the wrong angle.

"That's weird." He muttered as he tilted his head before spinning around in a circle a few times to scout the area even more.

When he turned back around he jumped upon seeing a child standing...or floating behind him.

"Um, hi." He said with a small smile and a shallow wave.

The ghost child never said anything back. He just narrowed his gaze at Danny and looked him up and down for a moment. Having nothing better to do Danny stared back, and fought against rising a brow or making a comment about what the kid was wearing. He knew that he was young, and that his generation was mostly t-shirts and jeans, but he was pretty sure not even his grandparents wore such nicely fitted suits or spit shinned shoes, with a fedora no less. The kid look more like some privet eye from those black and white movies he saw while channel surfing sometimes.

"Are you Hood? The ghost protector?" The boy asked, waving his hand and calling forth a small note book and old fashion ballpoint pen from nowhere.

"Sir yes sir!" Danny chirped, straightening out and giving the kid a playful salute.

Whoever this kid was he didn't seem to have a funny bone in his body. He just raised a skeptical brow at Danny with a frown on his lips before he jotted something down in his book.

"Sarcasm." He mumbled to himself as Danny floated over his shoulder in order to see the words that he was putting down.

He didn't get the chance to see anything however when the kid pulled it back, scowling at Danny. Seeing that he wasn't doing himself any favours the older ghost backed off, putting his hands out before him in defence. His eye's shot wide open when the kid's hand suddenly shot out and snapped a cuff around his wrist before snapping the other end around his other one.

"I'm sorry about this by the way." The boy almost whined as he pouted up at a very confused Danny.

He didn't get a chance to say anything though before a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and a voice he'd never hoped to hear again was suddenly next to his ear.

"Very good YoungBlood." The deep voice chuckled and Danny wanted nothing more than to run in the other direction away from it.

"So I'm good to go than?"The young ghost asked as his eyes darted quickly one way than the other, as if he was looking for something.

"You're off the hook for now kid. Break anymore rules though and I'll have you back behind bars."

It seemed that the boy didn't waste anymore time before he darted off, leaving Danny alone. He yelped when he was spun around to face the other and quickly brought his hand's up to wrap around the wrist when a giant hand about the size of his face grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

He had never been happier for his idea to hide his face as he was forced to look up at Walker. He hadn't seen this guy in years, probably since he was seven, but nothing about the man had change. He was still as large and intimidating as Danny remembered, but hopefully this guy didn't remember anything about him.

"I've been looking for you for a long time boy." Walker hissed as he brought their face's inches apart.

Danny felt his stomach drop down to his feet. Did Walker recognize him? He would have thought it was impossible given the fact that he hid his face, but what if he could tell some other way?

"Vigilantism is breaking the law. You have also helped many of my escaped prisoners to evade capture and get away from their full sentences."

Oh. Oh okay. He had no idea who he was. He was just annoyed about the fact that Danny was helping out other innocent ghosts rather than allowing them to be caught by either the hunters or the jail house ghost. Well as long as he didn't recognize who he really was than he was in the clear. Still though, what a jerk.

"I highly doubt any of them belong there in the first place." Danny growled, trying to squirm out of the others hold while the paper white face just smirked down at him.

"That's none of your concern, but for helping them evade the authorities of both the ghost zone and the human world, be prepared to go to jail punk."

Danny could feel his eyes flash green as a sudden and sharp panic grabbed a hold of him. He'd been in Walker's jail before, with his mother, they had stayed there just before they had been handed over to a hunter. Walker had turned them over, without a second thought. He hadn't cared what happened to either of them, because Danny wasn't fully ghost, and his mother was a disgrace to ghosts for falling in love with a human.

The idea of being shoved in another cage, of being 'watched' over by the guards, of being strapped down to a table with no way to move made his whole body shake. Once Walker realized who he really was, once what he was, was exposed to the whole ghost zone they were all going to turn their backs on him. He'd had it happen before, and he knew that even the ghosts that he had saved would throw him to the wolves.

"Wait! There's ah, there's got to be a, um, another way to...can I just..." He was stumbling badly, badly enough to make the one holding him widen his smirk. It made his human side cringe and feel as if his blood was going cold. He was so screwed.

Seeing no other way out of it he tightened his hold on the wrist of his captor and brought both of his feet up and nailed Walker in the chest as hard as he could. It had the effect he wanted and the moment that the older ghost's grip had weakened he darted back to the ground and hid around the school. Once he had himself pushed up against the wall he glared at the cuffs and tried to break them with an ecto blast from his eyes. It didn't work though and instead made him jump when the blast reflected back and missed his head by a few inches as it created a deep hole into the school wall. Growling he looked around the corner of the school to see the 'law ghost' was looking around for him.

Shit. What was he supposed to do?

Biting the inside of his cheek to try and calm himself down he quickly ducked back behind the corner and wondered where he could go. The thought seemed to come from nowhere when he remembered that Fenton now had a shield to keep ghosts out. It wouldn't be up right now so he could just go there and turn it on and hide until this ghost was gone. Would he be able to out fly Walker though?

Deciding there was only one way to find out Danny took to the air.

(Ghost)

Danny sighed as he finally managed to get out of class. It seemed that Phantom had just used it as an excuse to skip class and when he didn't come back after ten minutes the teacher let him go. The last thing he wanted to see as soon as he got outside was a giant ghost flying in the direction of his home.

"Just one easy day, is that to much to ask for?" He muttered under his breath before he took off running.

(Ghost)

Danny couldn't help but snicker almost evilly as he watched Walker being blasted back from the ghost shield once more. As the man propped himself up on his elbows the younger male stuck out his tongue. As childish as it was to be taunting him this way it was also somewhat satisfying. In reality there was nothing he wanted to do more than to tare into the guy, but he wasn't going to be that stupid. There was no way he was going to give up the location of his father if Walker found out it was him and besides that he couldn't seem to get these stupid cuffs off no matter what he did.

"Get out of there! Face me like a man!" Walker yelled, standing inches away from the light green haze as Danny scoffed.

"Says the guy who used a child to trick me to drop my guard!" He barked back, his gaze narrowed as his hands tightened. "But I guess using kids isn't the lowest you're willing to go is it Walker."

When he realized that he'd addressed the man by name he noticed that Walker's eyes grew wide. Just as he opened his mouth to speak however a scream tore from passed his lips instead and Danny found his gaze suddenly taken by the green smoke that wafted up from his shoulders. The pain caused Walker to slouch forward and Danny felt his heart sink at the sight of Fenton in full hunter gear standing behind him. There was a smoking gun in his hand and a scowl set over his lips. No doubt he was glaring too, but Danny couldn't really tell who he would be glaring at behind his visor.

"Walker what are you doing here? I thought we had a deal." The boy growled as Danny drifted out of the boy's bedroom, knowing he was safe so long as he was behind the shield.

Right. He'd forgotten that these two knew each other.

"You're harbouring a fugitive young hunter. Our deal is off." Walker said as he landed on the ground next to the boy.

Fenton on the other hand didn't seem all that faze as he simply walked behind the shield and lifted a hand to Danny. With a crooked finger he beckoned the boy back down to the ground and Danny obediently did as he was told wordlessly to do. Tilting his head to the side he jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder before the ghost hunter turned back to the law ghost.

"Listen Walker, this guy's new, he doesn't know about the rules and he's stupidly naive."

"Hey!" Danny snapped as he glared at the other for only a moment before Fenton snaked his hand around his shoulder in order to be placed firmly over his mouth.

"Let him off this one time. I'll go over the rules with him and if he breaks them after that he's all yours."

Danny watched at the big ghost stared at them for a moment before he nodded his head sharply.

"Because I like you Fenton, I'll let him off. He makes one more slip up though and he's behind my bars rather than your shields."

"Deal."

With that as his last words the ghost was gone and Danny wanted to growl as his eye's dropped down to his wrist's briefly. Couldn't he have taken these off before he left?

The hand left his mouth but the white haired teen still found himself hissing when a hand came up and whacked the back of his head sharply.

"Ow! What was that for?" He snarled as the hunter just glare at him.

"Of all the dumb places you could run and hide you had to come here? This is my house Nights! I'd prefer it other ghosts didn't know where it was." He snapped before grabbing the top of the boy's hood and yanking him back inside the house.

Danny would have had something to say about that but he chose to keep his mouth shut. Right now his eye sight was blocked by his hood and he wasn't about to put it passed Fenton to lead him straight into a wall if he ticked him off. Instead he turned his attention to his wrists, wondering just how he was supposed to get out of these stupid things.

A small yelp slipped passed his lips when he was shoved into the others room and jumped when he heard the door slam behind him. Taking a moment to raise both of his hands up to pull the hood back just enough so that he could see he ignored the ghost hunter while the boy took off his mask. Danny just floated over to his bed, flopping down on it lazily as he held his hands out in front of him. Resting on his stomach he glared at the cuffs before he thought of a new idea. Obviously his ecto eyes weren't going to work, but maybe his teeth might. After all they were much sharper.

The second that his teeth came in contact with the green light however a powerful zap stung his lips, tongue and even his teeth. With a pained yelp he quickly jerked his head back and slapped his hand over his mouth.

"You okay Nights?" Fenton asked as he walked up beside the boy while Danny gave a small nod of his head.

He could still feel small bouts of electricity dancing over his lips and tongue.

"Yeah," He mumbled as he dropped his hand away from his mouth, "just got a shock is all." They were both silent until an idea formed him his mind.

He'd already come to the conclusion that he liked Fenton, and their interactions with one another were borderline flirtatious, so why not make it just a bit more obvious?

Allowing a smirk to curl over his face he raised his gaze to the confused looking dark haired male. "Kiss it better for me?"

Hunter just gave out a long, agitated sigh and a roll of his eyes at his antics.

"This is serious Nights." He growled as he walked over to his dresser beside his bed and yanked open the top drawer.

Danny on the other hand frowned as he waited for him to come back. He'd really been hoping that, that would give him a little bit more of a reaction. That...yeah, that wasn't what he'd been expecting. His frown was gone soon enough though when the hunter held a strange looking device up to the cuffs and they flashed bright green before disappearing.

"Whoa." Danny mumbled as he looked down at his now freed wrist and shook them about a little before snatching the small object from the other boy. "How did that work?"

Fenton didn't bother to answer him though as he stole back whatever it was and marched back over to his dresser, putting it away before returning.

"Do you not know anything about your zone?"

"Zone?" Danny questioned as he sat up on the bed and frowned even more at the other.

"Yeah, the ghost zone. The place where all ghosts live." The black haired male muttered as he rubbed his finger's roughly against his head. "You know, that zone."

"Well yeah." Danny grumbled, flopping onto his back and resting his hands behind his head. "It sucks big time. Why do you think they all come here."

"I can assure you that I don't know or care." Fenton growled as he sat down so close to Danny that their thighs were touching. Without any warning he grabbed a fistful of Danny's jacket and pulled him to sit up straight, glaring at the other with a seething rage. "But I have spent years getting on Walker's good side since he mostly stays in his zone and keeps other ghosts there as well, but what on earth were you thinking!?" He snapped, shoving Danny so hard back that he ran into the headboard. "If he would have got his hands on you, you would have been finished."

"Well it wasn't my fault!" Nights snapped back, throwing his hands in the air. "He came after me! I would never go to him first!"

Fenton groaned, slapping his hand to his forehead and than dragging it down his face. "You're interfering with his work. It's no wonder that he came after you. Considering what a huge pain in my side you've been since you got here I can understand how he feels." Fenton bit out, his words making Danny winch. "I should have just handed you over to him. Both of our problems would have been over with."

Those words hurt Danny a little more than he would openly admit, but they didn't stop him from scooting just a little bit closer or leaning over so that he could see the others scowling face.

"Than why didn't you?"

"I don't know!" Fenton snapped as he turned to glare at the boy, neither of them seeming to mind to much with the fact that their face's were only inches apart. "I should have and if my mom ever finds out that I stopped Walker from taking you than she's going to skin me alive."

Danny chuckled at that. If only because he knew that it would never happen as he gently bumped his nose against the others cheek.

"Aw, it's because you have a soft spot for me." He grinned as the hunter seemed to bristle. "Danny Fenton, worlds best ghost hunter has a soft spot for the ever handsome and dashing ghost protector."

"Don't make me laugh." The boy mumbled as he shifted on his bed in slight discomfort while Danny just continued to chuckle and continue taunting the boy.

"You so do! Never bothering me at ho...my place of haunting,"

"There are innocent people there that can be hurt by ghost hunting equipment."

"Allowing me to come and bother you whenever I want."

"That way I at least know where you are."

"Always looking upset whenever I can't get passed the ghost shield every night."

"...You saw that?"

"Face it, you like me." Danny grinned widely as one of his leg's seemed to mimic a tail while it move back and forth quickly in joy.

"Yeah, 'cause I totally have a soft spot for the ghost who came in and single handedly turned my life upside down." Fenton growled as he refused to move when Danny brought himself unknowingly closer.

"Hm, it looks better that way." The other reasoned and he couldn't help but smile even more when a reluctant smirk slid across the others lip's.

"It's definitely more interesting." He agreed as they both chuckled.

Green eyes watched blue for a moment before the blue orbs were lost behind tightly shut lids when Fenton pressed their lips together.

In that single moment Danny could feel his world shifting too, joining Fenton's world as it turned over as he brought his hand up to the boy's cheek to deepen the kiss.


	15. Chapter 15

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 15

"Hey Danny are you okay?"

Bright green eyes blinked for a moment as said male brought himself out of his thoughts to be staring straight at his burger. Slowly they drifted over to the tacky red and white clock that hung on the wall and he felt his brows pull together when he noticed that he'd been sitting there holding his burger for a good ten minutes. With a long sigh he dropped his hands down heavily on the table top, placing his untouched burger back down before he brought his gaze up to his friend who was taking a sip from her drink with a raised brow. He felt bad for not paying attention to her when this was one of the rare times that they got to hangout together outside of school.

"Yeah, sorry Val, I was just thinking." He mumbled as he poked at his fries for a moment.

"About what?" She questioned, popping one of her own salt covered fries into her mouth.

Danny played with the edge of the wrapper from his burger for a moment before he looked up at her. Should he tell her? It might help to have a girl's perspective...

"What do you do if someone kissed you first and than you kissed them back but then they kicked you out of their house?" He asked while her eye's just widen a fraction. "I mean they started it but than a second later they were yelling at me and kicked me out. I don't get it." He mumbled, his voice sounding close to a growl as he stabbed his straw into his drink for a moment with a sharp glare. He was almost hoping that taking his anger out on the drink would make him feel better. Unsurprisingly it didn't.

"Um, is this about the person you said you might have liked?" When he nodded his head she let out a sigh. "I don't know." She muttered back before taking another sip. "Have you guys know each other long?"

"I didn't say he was a guy." Danny cut in as he raised his gaze once more to stare at her while he continued absently abusing his drink.

The darker skinned girl simply crossed her arms on the table as her eyes went to half mass and a bored frown pulled at her lips.

"Okay three things;" she said as she held up three finger's, "One; guys could just mean people in general, they don't have to be guys or girls. Two; The fact that you said 'they' rather than 'she' or 'her' could mean that you're trying to hide the gender. And three; you just said I didn't say, 'he' was a guy."

Danny nearly pouted as he shrunk back in his seat, now turning a sharp glare to his burger.

"I don't care Danny, really. I've got better things to do with my time rather than wonder what people do behind closed doors." Valerie sighed with a roll of her eyes before she stared back at him. "But obviously this is bothering you."

"Well yeah. I mean, I obviously knew that I liked the guy. I gave it a lot of thought after talking to you about it. But he kissed me first!" Danny nearly snarled. "Even for a few days after that I still thought that maybe, you know, it was just some teenage hormonal thing." He muttered with a wave of his hand as he brought himself to lean on the counter while Val nodded her head in understanding, now resting one of her cheek's against her fist, "but he kept ignoring me and I don't know..." Danny sighed as he stared down at his still untouched burger for a moment before he shrugged slightly. "I kind of miss not being able to talk to him anymore, or argue either for that matter. I can't even hangout with him any more either since he's got a spect...um, I mean since he's suddenly busy all the time."

"Doesn't sound like that much of a great guy to me." Val shrugged as she grabbed another three fries and dipped them in ketchup before chomping down on them. "Maybe it was better that it turned out this way."

"Oh you couldn't be more wrong about that." Danny chuckled softly as he rested his chin in his hand and stared out the window at the sopping streets and the poor people walking around who were trying their best not to get soaked to the bone. "He's so cute and he's really smart. He's just got these adorable sky blue, puppy eyes and this soft black hair that's always falling over his face. He invents things all the time too! And it's so neat to watch him create things and you should see how serious he gets whenever we fight." Danny snickered as he thought back to all the scowling and smug looks that Fenton would give him whenever they were arguing who was more right about ghosts. "He's a really caring guy too, although he doesn't like to let people know it, and he's such a big softy." Danny chuckled before a low whistle from the girl made him turn to her with a raised brow.

"You've got it bad my friend." She sighed as she took another bite out of her burger. "So wait, how did this all happen?" She asked as she sat back a little to stare at him. "I mean you're still kinda new here and besides me you don't hang out with anyone else at school, and no offence but you don't seem ton have much of a social life. How did you meet this guy?"

"Well..." Danny trailed off as he thought about it. He knew that he met Fenton at his work, but he'd met Fenton there as Danny Phantom; high school classmate, not Nights; Ghost Protector of Amity Park. Fenton didn't like Danny, but he got along really well with Nights so which way was he supposed to tell the story? "Um, at an after school activity?" Well, that was some what true... and kind of close...

"Oh?"

"Um yeah," Danny said as his mind worked in overdrive to come up with a believable excuse quickly, "we're on opposite, um, teams, but we became friends? Kind-of-ish I guess, 'cause we were always in each others faces and what not." He said with a wave of his hand. "But um, I got in trouble with someone...on his team? Yeah. And he got me off the hook. Than he was complaining about why he did that when it could have gotten me out of his hair and than I was kinda joking around about how he had a soft spot for me and what not, and than I guess we were kind of close and he just you know..." Danny shrugged as he felt his face grow hot when Val smirked slightly at him. "But than not even a few seconds later he shoved me off his bed,"

"Whoa wait, you were doing this on his bed?" Val asked as Danny rolled his eyes.

"It's not polite to interrupt." He mumbled while she put both her hand's up defensively.

"Well sorry." She said before smirking a little. "Please continue princess."

"Thank you. So yeah, he just shoved me off and told me this was wrong since were on different teams and than kicked me out. I tried to talk to him, you know, just joke around and show him that it wasn't that big of a deal but he won't talk to me and the more he ignores me the more I have time to think about it and see how much of a big deal it is. I want to just be able to blow it off but I don't think I can anymore. Not now that I know how much I actually like him."

"Sounds like a problem." Val nodded in agreement to her own words while Danny blew a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"Tell me about it." He muttered as she chuckled slightly.

"Come on." She grinned as she stood suddenly, pulling at his arm to get him to follow.

"But I'm not done eating." He whined as she shoved his tray in his hands before scooping up her own.

"Trust me lover boy, there was no way you were going to be able to eat with those thoughts in your head. I've got a better idea." She said as she walked up to one of the many garbage bins. "You're coming to the gym with me. I'll have you working to hard to think." She smirked as Danny followed suit and threw his stuff out too.

For a moment he looked up at the ceiling as he thought before he turned back to the girl with a raised brow.

"Wait, so we ate this garbage and now you wanna work out?" Danny mumbled as he continued to follow her out of the Nasty Burger.

Valerie only shrugged nonchalantly though as she hooked their arms together.

"And why not?" She questioned as Danny only shook his head and laughed at her before looking up at the clouds and allowing the rain to fall down on his face. "Hey, we could start now." The black haired girl smirked as she turned to him for a moment before taking off, her shoes slapping against the wet ground. "Last one there's a sorry sucker!"

"You cheated!" Danny yelled after her before he started running too.

(***)

"You okay Danny?"

Looking up from the book he had been reading Danny blink owlishly at his best friend as her pupal eyes narrowed at him in concern.

"I'm sorry, what was your question?" He asked, a nervous smile pulling at his lips when she scowled at him slightly.

"Danny come on. I know somethings bothering you, or does it really take you fifteenth minutes to read one page?" She scoffed as bright blue eyes turned down to the book in his hands.

With a small sigh Danny abandoned his reading for the NASA space program and instead just dropped his head onto his desk.

Sam was right, he'd been completely spacing out. All his thoughts lately had been hell bent on the one scene that just wouldn't stop circling his mind. He didn't know what possessed him to kiss Nights, maybe Nights himself had, but the second that his brain had finally caught up with him he had been shoving Nights away and out the window. He felt bad when he continued glaring at the ghost for ten awkward minutes before realizing that he couldn't get out with the shield up, still though, he had been doing his best to avoid the ghost since than.

It was just so wrong, on some many different levels. Nights was his enemy, someone who was constantly getting in his way at all the worst of times, and even worse, he was dead. How could it be possible for Danny to fall...whoa, um, to kiss a dead person? It was just so wrong! He shouldn't have been going around and kissing ghost! It just wasn't done! Especially not by a ghost hunter!

He knew he was eventually going to have to see Nights again. He was going to have to suck it up and tell the ghost straight out that it was a mistake and that they should just go back to being enemies rather than trying to be...what ever they were trying to be before. Come to think of it what were they? They weren't really enemies, but friends didn't fit either. Maybe frienemies? Or was it something more than that?

"...and than I asked Tucker it he'd ever date Dash and he said yes." Sam mumbled as Danny snapped back to attention.

"What!?" The raven haired male exclaimed as he grimaced at the thought.

"And now I've got your attention. Thank you." Sam said as she gave him a stare of boredom. "So, what been bothering you lately?"

Could he tell Sam? It really wouldn't be a good idea. She already hated the fact that Danny was on somewhat friendly terms with Nights, he could only imagine what she would say if she found out they kissed. Even more so if she found out he was the one who made the first move. Keeping it from her though didn't feel right either. She had been his best friend since forever. Wasn't it kind of a rule that they told each other everything?

"Danny it's okay." She said softly as she gave him a small smile before her eyes dropped somewhat awkwardly to her own hands while she played with her fingers. "I know I don't always act it, but I do care about you and you know I'm always here for you."

Danny bit down on his lower lip harshly as his gaze moved from her deep set pupal eyes to the other side of the room and back again.

"Um, I, ah..." The words weren't coming out as easily as he had hoped and a moment later he let out a long sigh. "I'm just freaking out about how I'm going to pass this grade without getting thrown out of school for missed classes and incompletes."

It wasn't a complete lie, but he knew that it wasn't the truth, or at least not the one she'd asked for. To be honest he and his mother had talked to the principal when he had first started high school and explained to her what was going on. Because of that he was allowed to hand in his assignments late and as long as he always caught up in his classes he was allowed to have as many absent days as he wanted without worrying about dropping the class. Now of course the teachers didn't know about this since they wanted to tell as few people as possible, which made getting out of the room in the first place really hard, but he could live with it.

Sam seemed to believe him though as she smirked before leaning over and grabbing a thick book from her bag.

"Oh that shouldn't be to hard. With me as your tutor you'll be passing those classes in no time."

Danny chuckled nervously before he jumped when the book was dropped, making a solid 'thud' as it hit the table. Maybe telling her the truth would have been better...

(***)

"Danny can we talk?" Danny sighed as he hovered just inches away from the green glowing ghost shield, wanting so bad to touch it but knowing he couldn't.

A small whine slipped passed his lips when the boy kept ignoring him and just rolled over in his bed, with his back now facing the hooded covered ghost. After his workout with Val they had gone their separate ways. Although they had made plans to go to a movie after, when Valerie had looked at her phone she just said that she needed to leave and apologized for cancelling. Not that Danny minded but after he was done getting the workout of his life it seemed that all his thought's and idea's about the raven haired male intensified.

He'd really tried to ignore them, and he had been doing a pretty good job for a few hours, but as night drew closer he'd caved and found himself outside the boy's bedroom window.

"Please?" He asked, this time a little louder as his hand floated inches away from the dome. "This is just getting ridiculous. Come on, it's not like you're some sort of girl or something!" He groaned loudly, just wanting to scratch at the stupid object if only to annoy the other teen. "Hunter!" He barked, finally getting fed up of trying to play the pity card. "I'll have you know that this can be looked at as a case of neglect!"

However the boy in the bed didn't move an inch, a second later though and his body shift and the blankets pooled around his waist as he finally got up. Danny grinned widely for a moment, thinking he had finally gotten to the ghost hunter, and than Fenton got up and closed his blinds. Throwing his hands up in the air Danny glared at the lightly orange tinted, night sky and growled.

"Fine! I'm just going to go...um, haunt some, ah, haunt some old people or something!" He said after a moment of thinking while he turned around.

He flinched though when something hit the back of his head. Looking down at the concrete he landed softly and just stared at the strange object in his hands. What was this?

"Have fun!" Fenton said cheerily from his window and Danny looked up just in time to see the fake smile plastered on his face before he closed the curtain again.

Have fun? He was just going to let Danny go do this? Why would he...

Hot, panted breath on the back of his neck made the boy tense as his bright green eyes went wide. Letting out a deep breath he ever so slowly looked over his shoulder only to have his mouth drop open in a silent scream.

Standing right behind him was the biggest, meanest looking ghost dog he had ever seen. The thing was even foaming at the mouth and worse yet, it was growling right at Danny.

"Um...sit?" Danny tired weakly as he lowered a flat palm facing downward. The moment the creature roared at him though he was gone.

Fenton was so going to pay for this.


	16. Chapter 16

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 16

"Um...are you sure I should be here?"

Danny ignored Tucker's question just as well as he was ignoring the ghost that was floating cross legged in his bedroom. The only time he'd bothered looking up from his text book in the last half hour was just to tell Tucker that he wasn't allowed to leave. He'd been hoping that Nights would take the hint sooner but apparently he was a little more stubborn than Danny had ever hoped.

Gladly his idea of having Tucker here to make sure that Nights didn't start to bother him with questions about what had happened had been a brilliant idea. Thankfully it seemed that Nights wanted to keep what had happened just between them, and Danny was completely fine with that. Now if only he could get the guy to take a hint and go.

Not that it mattered, there was no way that Nights could get within a few feet of him. He'd made himself a Spector Deflector belt just in case Nights tried to get to close and trick him again.

"So..." Tucker muttered, not knowing what else to do as he tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair that he was sitting at. "How have you been lately Nights?"

His question made the dark haired male pause in his reading. He couldn't help but wonder just what Nights would say to that. Was he going to tell Tucker the truth? Was he going to drop some super obvious clue? There was no way that he would just grow fed up with how Danny had been acting lately and would declare real war on him would there? He wasn't about to drop his playful act and go right for the throat right?

Unable to help himself he took a quick peek over his book. Shockingly enough however Nights as nowhere to be seen. Only the slight flutter of his curtains gave any evidence of his whereabouts. Danny turned his questioning gaze to Tucker who only shrugged back at him.

Well, good. Nights was gone. Just like he wanted. Right?

(***)

He couldn't believe that it had already been two days. Two days since he'd apparently lost his mind and thought that kissing Nights was a good idea. Ugh, why had he done that?

Maybe it was just that Nights was so close and Danny had just been going along with the flow of things. Maybe this had been Nights' plan the whole time and he had just fallen for it. Maybe he really, actually did harbour feelings for the infernal ghost teen. He certainty hoped not. The last thought left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Danny look out!"

He looked up just in time to get a basketball straight to the face. His arms flailed out at his side uselessly for about two seconds before the force of the impact knocked him off of the bench and flat onto the gym floor.

Groaning out in pain he brought one hand up to rub at his face while he used the other one to prop himself up on his elbow. Looking through the cracks in between his fingers he watched as Phantom jogged up to him.

"Sorry about that Fenton."

Something about the tone in his voice and the smirk over his face told Danny that he was really the furthest thing from sorry. Still, what had he ever done to Phantom to deserve that?

Chalking it up to some cruel joke Danny crawled back onto his seat.

(***)

"Are you seriously still ignoring me?" Nights grumbled floating behind Danny while he turned up the volume of his i-pod to nearly ear splitting levels.

So far he was on day four.

As much as the music made his head throb it also did it's part in blocking out the other from being heard. He would have counted it as a win if Nights hadn't appeared in front of him about two seconds later. While he still couldn't hear what the boy was saying he could tell that he was yelling and from the way that his eyes were flashing he could see just how angry he was. Just as he was about to remove his earbuds though Nights gave a final word and took off.

Biting down on the corner of his lip Danny removed his ear pieces as he watched Nights fly away. It was odd and uncomfortable, but he could feel his heart clench painfully as he watched Nights fade into the distance.

He really hoped this was the right thing to do.


	17. Chapter 17

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 17

"What's the matter Fenton? Can't handle the beat?" Ember basically cackled as she strummed her guitar violently.

Danny barely had any time to jump out of the way before the sound waves struck the car that was behind him and sent it flipping into the middle of the street. Which was great really, just another thing he was going to have to fix later. As if he didn't already have enough work to do.

"I think your timing may be a little off!" He snapped as he pulled out his ecto blaster and shot at the flaming haired ghost.

He wasn't aiming to hit her, just to distract her for long enough to jump into an alleyway and press himself against the brick wall. When he'd first met Ember with Nights all those patrols back, he hadn't thought that she would have been such a problem. Sure he'd seen her guitar and what not, but there was no way it had ever crossed his mind that she could use that as a weapon. Yet she'd been using it to beat him back in to a defensive position for the last twenty minutes!

It came as no surprise that he had been shocked to see her again when he'd run into her at the park, but he'd barely got out two words before she'd started attacking him. He couldn't even being to think of why. Ghost normally didn't attack unless they were provoked. That was just common knowledge. It was why his mother had taught him to strike first and quick. There couldn't be any room for error. If this was what they got in return whenever they let a ghost go though he was seriously going to have to rethink about somethings. It was no wonder that they did it his mother's way.

The shot had done its job. While it wouldn't have any effect if it hit her, it did distract her for a few precious seconds, just long enough for him to try and regather some of his thoughts.

As he was peering at her from around the lip of the alley, a flash of green across the street caught his attention.

Nights was standing there. His arms were crossed and he was leaning against the wall casually, his sharp green eyes peering out from the inky blackness of his hood. He appeared completely different since the last time Danny had seen him. He look calm, and collected. A far cry from him screaming and taking off only the day before. Still, it was obvious that he hadn't appreciated the little ghost dog trick that the hunter had pulled, or any of his other antics to avoid talking to him over the passed few days but he felt pretty safe so long as he had the Spector Deflector wrapped solidly around his waist.

The only thing that he couldn't figure out was why Nights was just standing there. It was clear to see that he was in a fight with a ghost. Wasn't that kind of his thing? It was unsettling that he wasn't even so much as lifting a finger to either help Ember or bother Danny.

He was just watching and that unnerved the ghost hunter more than he would care to admit.

Getting carried away in his own thoughts Danny forgot his current situation. It slapped him in the face however when Ember narrowed in on his location, popping out of nowhere with her guitar pointed straight at Danny's chest.

"Say bye, bye, bye Hunter?" She grinned as she pulled her hand way up in the air.

"Really Ember? Nsycn?"

The girl jumped at the new voice that showed up behind her as she looked over her shoulder, distracted enough to give Fenton sometime to grab his thermos.

"Hunter." The sound was enough to freeze the blood in his veins and Danny found his gaze locked with narrowed green with his hand frozen in place, the tips of his fingers just grazing the thermos. "You grab that object and you lose that hand."

Oh, yikes. Danny might have really pushed him to far if Nights was this pissed. He sounded serious and without even thinking about it he pulled his hand away from his containment device.

Satisfied that he had rendered the hunter useless Nights than turned his attention back to his fiery haired friend and Danny found that he could do nothing more than watch.

"What are you doing back here Ember?"

The girl sighed, swinging her guitar to her back, proof that she was done fighting for now.

"Walker's after me. He said I broke some stupid rule about playing to loud or singing to loud or something stupid like that. So I came here."

"Wouldn't the jury be on your side?" Danny asked, walking up from behind them. Quick as a whip she had her guitar in her hands again, the end piece pointed at Danny with a vicious snarl set over her face. Holding his hands up Danny tried to make himself look as defenceless as possible. "I mean before he can arrest you he's got to take you to court right? Surely if you think he's over reacting than you could fight against it."

Nights and Ember took a glance over at one another, and than promptly began laughing.

Confused as to what he could have possibly said that they would find so funny Danny scowled at the both of them.

"You have no idea how Walker really works do you?" Nights snickered, his lips pulled back enough to show off a set of impressively sharp teeth. "He's the executioner, judge, jury, and executioner."

"You said executioner twice." Danny pointed out.

"He likes that part." The two said in unison.

Giving a shake of his head Danny tried to think of something else. Anything else to get this ghost to go back to her zone.

"Okay, but you're young, surely he's got to have a little mercy for younger ghosts."

"He doesn't even have mercy for his own daughter." The words were said with such a low, venomous hiss that even Ember took a step back in surprise.

A long silence followed after Nights statement, but he didn't bother looking at either of the two as he stood stalk still, choosing to keep his head tilted towards the ground. After a moment he cleared out his throat, lifting his head and turned back to the girl while completely ignoring the hunter.

"Ember you have to get out of this city. Try going somewhere else okay? But just not here. These guys are assholes. You might as well find somewhere better."

"Um, I'm right here Nights." Danny muttered, not at all amused with the description of him and his team.

"You going to prove me wrong?"

The question through him off guard for nothing more than a few seconds, but apparently it was just long enough for the Ember's hair to do that weird wrap thing and than she was gone. Once again Danny found himself blinking the dots of light out of his eyes in an attempt to see in the darkness again. When he finally did manage to get back his vision he was shocked to see that Nights was walking away from him and was already a fair distance. He wasn't even flying or hovering just a few feet off the ground. He was just walking, like any other normal person. The sight of it really left a sharp sting in Danny's chest.

"Nights wait!"

Why did he do that?

He didn't give himself any time to ponder over his question as he raced after the other. Nights didn't stop, he didn't even bother to turn around or show that he had heard the hunter call out after him. Just as Danny got behind him he made a move to reach out and touch the others shoulder, once he remembered the belt he was wearing however he quickly jerked his hand back. Thinking of a new idea he moved himself in front of the ghost, effectively making him stop in his tracks to glare at Danny.

"What?"

What indeed. What was he thinking? What was he going to say? What was he doing? He didn't have answers to any of these questions and more were just pilling up by the second.

"I'm sorry."

Well, that hadn't been what he was thinking he would say. Where had that even come from?

Nights seemed just as shocked as he was to hear the words. His eyes glowing this time in confusion rather than rage.

Before he could stop it Danny found his mouth moving once more. "I'm sorry for ignoring you the last few days, that really wasn't cool, it's just that I um... well I've never... I'm just being a coward right now." Seriously, he would have thought that Nights had possessed him to make him say all of this stuff if the idea wasn't made completely impossible by the deflector. Nope. He had no one to blame on the words but himself. "But I miss hanging out with you and whatnot so maybe it would just be best to forget that um... whatever that was, and that it ever happened."

And the narrowed green orbs filled with a shimmering rage were back. When Nights slid towards him, Danny jerked back, his shoulders hitting the brick wall behind him and he inwardly cursed himself out for letting his guard down so much that he had no idea where his surroundings were. Even though he knew that Nights couldn't touch him without receiving a massive amount of pain it didn't make the way that he filled up Danny's personal space any less intimidating as he his heart rate sky rocketed.

With their faces just inches away a smirk lit up the others face as he brought himself over to whisper in the others ear.

"No."

Just as quick as he was there he was gone. Danny didn't even have time to blink before the ghost simply vanished from his sight. Letting out a breath he didn't even realized he was holding Danny slid down the wall, only stopping once his butt hit concrete. Dropping his head into his hands he let out an aggravated growl as he thought over what had just happened.

He was in way over his head with this one.

(***)

"Danny I'm..."

"Going to be at work." Danny interrupted, his tone flat as he flipped through yet another page in a book he wasn't even bothering to look at. "I know Dad."

For the past week it seemed that his Dad spent more time outside of the house than in his office, but Danny couldn't really say that he blamed him. His father was a busy man, that couldn't be helped. Besides with him out of the house more often than not it left Danny with countless hours that he could be gone for without question.

"Danny."

Looking up at the sound of his name Danny couldn't force a smile on his lips for his Dad even if he tried. It was almost as if after that talk with Fenton a few days ago, even though he'd acted like it was fine, his mood had been stuck in a permanent downer. Like nothing that he could think of that would usually bring him joy was working anymore.

"Is there something troubling you son?" Jack asked, walking into their small living room while Danny sat up on the couch to make room for him.

While he wasn't looking forward to having a talk he could see the signs of when one was coming.

Rubbing his hands over his face he let out a long sigh. "No."

"Problems at school? Teachers? Classmates? Classes?" Jack pressed as he took a seat by his son.

"No Dad," Danny insisted, his brows narrowing over his eyes as he dropped his head in his hands. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

He knew that there was no way it was going to end there. The silence that followed was just being used for both of them to think of stronger points and rebuffles. Right now Danny wasn't in any mood to try and play twenty one questions with his Dad. He didn't want Jack to find out what he'd been up to that was causing him to be in such a mood. If he was going to get out of this with the least possible snooping he was going to have to chalk up his moodiness to something else.

"It's just that..." Whatever it was that Jack had been trying to think up was abandoned as he turned his attention back to his son, "I guess I'm just getting a little lonely and kind of cabin fevery being left in here all of the time."

While that couldn't have been further from the truth, with his father at work constantly he had more freedom than ever to go out and explorer, the older man didn't know that. It would be all to easy to make him believe that Danny's mood could just be written up as a young male being cooped up for far to long. Who knew, maybe his father would suggest something that he could do to help him take his mind off of Nights for a while.

"Oh Danny," Jack cooed, throwing an arm around his son's shoulders and pulling him close, "I'm sorry. I had no idea that you felt that way."

"Yeah well..." Danny finished off with a shrug, not really knowing where to go from there.

"You know Danny, it might be time for me to show you my work. You could hang out with the other kids there."

"What?"

Was he hearing his Dad properly? Did he really think that sticking Danny with a bunch of smart collage students was a good idea? All they probably talked about was school and science! How was he supposed to have fun with people like that? As if the was the worst part, being stuck in his Dad's office meant that he would be being watched constantly. Good luck sneaking away when he was in a room full of people who were no doubt going to be watching him at every turn.

"Uh, nah, that's okay Dad." He said, trying to brush it off as he got to his feet. "Really, I'll make do. You know just um, I'll just do more homework. That'll keep my mind busy."

"Nonsense!" Jack shouted, his grin nearly splitting his face in half as he jumped up beside his son.

For a guy his age Danny always found himself shocked about how much energy he had.

"You must meet them all at some point, why not sooner than later?"

"No Dad really it's..."

"Sure I'll have to talk to a few of my people but they're all dying to meet you Danny. I've told them all so much about you."

His Dad wasn't listening to him anymore. That was pretty much a known fact as he continued to spout on about how amazing all of his coworkers were and how he was sure that Danny was bound to get along with the rest of the kids that worked there.

"You know I'm sure I could get you in for next Wednesday!"

Well, it appeared that he had made up his mind...Which was just perfect. Danny supposed that he could kiss all of his freedom goodbye.

"Do you think you could wait until than son?"

This time Danny forced himself to give a smile to his father's grinning face.

"Yup."

Maybe going with the truth would have been better...

(***)

"Can I ask you something?"

Danny had to hold back a groan as he shoved his hands deeply into the pockets of his jacket. He'd hoped that by inviting Tucker out it would help take his mind off of what ever was going on with him and Nights, but he just knew that the situation was what his friend was going to be bringing up. Maybe he should have brought Sam instead. It was just to bad that her mom had forced her to have a 'play date' with Pualina.

"If it's about a certain ghost than no." He muttered, ducking his chin into the collar of his fall jacket. It was colder out here than he'd been expecting, but it wasn't to bad. At least the numbing nip helped him to take his mind off of some things.

Like Nights for instance. He supposed if anything though he should be happy that he hadn't seen Nights in the last little while. He had to abandon the Deflector after a coffee spilling accident. That had been rather painful.

"Alright fine." Tucker said with a long sigh. "But just for the record I really think that you two should talk."

"What's it matter to you?" Danny snapped.

He knew that Tucker didn't deserved to be snapped at, but he couldn't handle much more of this. His own mind was in a spin over what was happening. He couldn't even talk to it about it to himself or Nights, how was he supposed to talk to it with anyone else? He was a fricken hunter! This wasn't supposed to be happening!

"Sorry man."

A wave of guilt washed over Danny at Tuckers words. He knew that his friend was just trying to help.

"It's just... I don't know, you almost seemed more at ease with this guy. I just thought that he was good for you so I can't understand why you're fighting against it so much."

"Ugh." Removing his hands from his pockets Danny dropped his head into them instead. "Tucker I just... I can't talk about this right now."

"Alright, that's fine." Tucker muttered, his off handed tone making Danny peek a look at him through his fingers. "I guess it doesn't matter anyways. He won't be your problem for much longer."

What? What was that supposed to mean?

Coming to a stop the darker haired male reached out and pulled his friend back beside him. Although Tuck quirked a single brow he didn't bother asking Danny why they had suddenly stopped moving. Instead he just waited for his friend to say his piece.

"What do you mean?"

"Wait...your mom didn't tell you?" Now Tuck seemed genuinely confused.

"Tell me what?" Dread was creeping up on his soul, and although he was praying that it wasn't going to be as bad as he feared, somehow he seriously doubted it.

"This morning when you were in your room getting changed I over heard her talking to someone on the phone about how she was going to go and talk to Walker today about Nights or something." Tucker said, his frown only growing the paler that Danny's face became. "You okay man? You're looking a little sick there."

Was he okay?

No, not really.

Nights might have been a giant pain in the ass but the last thing that he wanted to have happen was for him to be locked up. He knew that Nights had some problem with being contained, it was just to obvious with the way that he cared so much with getting the other ghosts free, and as much as Danny dreamed of catching the ghost the last thing that he wanted was for him to end up behind the bars of Walker's prison. And if Walker was talking to his mother than how much longer did he have before she found out that Danny had kept Nights from prison the first time? When she found that out she was going to kill him! And Walker? He could only imagine Nights fate once Walker got his hands on him. After all if you wanted a ghost broken you turned to the one who knew how to do it the best,

and Walker was the best.

Danny had sadly lost count of how many of the ghost they had turned over had lost their minds to Walker's ways and that was the last thing he wanted for Nights. He couldn't understand why his mother was doing this now though. Night's hadn't been much of a problem for her lately. In fact, he hadn't really been much of a problem for anyone in their group lately. There hadn't been much ghosts around to go after so other than bugging Danny he hadn't done much of anything. So why on earth was she starting to talk to Walker? Wouldn't it have made more sense for her do turn to something like that when Nights had been bothering them and when the ghost attacks had been more frequent? Could she not understand that if she did hand Nights over, just what would happen to him?

He could already see it. Nights locked in some awful cage. Chained and gagged. Calling out to Danny for help but the sound muffled and disoriented. Even just the idea left a sharp pain in his heart and made his organs drop to his toes. Nights was a free spirit, meant to be left alone and do his own thing. If Walker broke him he wouldn't be the same.

"Um Danny? Helloooo. Earth to space boy."

Snapping out of his thoughts Danny turned to Tucker who only frowned back at him.

"What?" He asked, his voice sounding to light and airy for his own liking.

"I asked if you were alright?" Tucker repeated as he placed a hand on the black haired male's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah." Danny lied as he shook the hand off of him and quickly ran both of his hands through his hair while he let out a long sigh, trying to get himself back in order. "Actually no." Coming to yet another sudden stop Danny tried to come up with any excuse that he could so that his next coarse of action wouldn't be so obvious. "I'm just not feeling well all of a sudden." He lied, bringing his arms down to wrap around his stomach. "Think I'm just gonna head home and lay around for a bit."

He didn't know if Tucker actually believed his half baked lie, but he couldn't think of anything else to tell his friend so he was going to stick with it. Not giving the other any time to reply he turned his back on him and quickly started walking in his desired direction.

Although he'd only ever been to the others place of haunting once, he could still remember where it was. He had no idea if Nights was going to be there right now or not. Considering the fact that he was a ghost he could literally fly and therefore he could be anywhere, but Danny had a good feeling about the apartment building across town. Even if he couldn't find Nights there he wasn't going to stop looking until he found him. He had to warn Nights about what his Mom was planing. He had to make sure that he was going to be okay.

Admittedly it took him longer than he would have thought to get to the place. Or maybe it just took him longer than he was willing to wait. Either way Danny felt as if by the time he'd made his way to the building he was already to late. Which was ridiculous really. It's not like either Walker or his Mom knew that this was where Nights would go at the end of the day. They had no idea where his main location was. Not that Danny could say that Nights made it easy. If Danny himself hadn't placed that tracking device on him would have thought that he was cursed and that Nights main area of haunting was where ever he was.

As he was slipping passed the front doors of the building he mumbled out a quick hello to a much larger, and older man walking out. He hadn't been expecting to engage much with anyone else here other than Nights but when the man grabbed a hold of his arm he found himself being yanked to a stop and staring up at the wide eyes of the dark haired male who had stopped him. The man looked just as shocked as Danny did which made absolutely no sense. Hadn't he been the one to grab the boy?

"Danny?"

"Uh...do I know you?"

His confusion only mounted even more when the stranger's face morphed into a look as if he'd been highly insulted. Than, quick as a whip, it turned to horror and than a creepily forced smile overcame his features.

Was this guy crazy or something? Just what was his game here?

"I'm sorry my boy. My son looks just like you." He said, slowly releasing the boy from his grip as he spoke. "I thought he was just playing some kind of trick on me."

Wait. Phantom lived here? God, could he not go anywhere in this town without that guy infecting it? It was bad enough that he had to see him at school and that the guy apparently had some sort of beef against him recently for unknown reasons if the constant balls to the face and amount of lunches 'accidentally' spilled on him were of any indication. Now he was here? Where Nights lived?

A light went off in Danny's head as he remembered that Phantom had been the one to pick up the pictures and to draw his own with unknown added details. Could it have been that he had seen Nights and Danny where they had both been here and that's how he knew? It made more sense than anything else he'd managed to come up with.

"I don't think I've seen you around the building before there son." The stranger continued, his voice doing well to pull Danny away from his thoughts. "You new here?"

"Um, no." Danny mumbled, trying to slip passed the guy and into the main building. "Just...visiting a friend."

Well, that was about as close to the truth as he could get without ratting out who he was or that there was a ghost here. The last thing he wanted was for this guy to freak out and to try and get a hold of the ghost hunters. He did not want his mother here snooping around. Still, it bothered him more than it should have over just how easily the idea of him and Nights being friends had just fallen passed his lips. The word felt like it belonged to the other. Like it was his rightfully owned title.

"Ah, yes." The big man grinned, his hand landing on Danny's shoulder and drawing the boy right back. "Friends are good things to have, and so hard to find."

Okay, Danny was officially creeped out by this guy. He was fighting with himself over the urgue to just nail him in the face and run away, but something in the back of his mind muttered over what a bad idea that was. With the look that he was receiving though he was about to tell the little voice to take a hike. There was some way off about this guy.

"You just remember that son."

With that as his last words that man finally let him go, heading back to where ever it was that he was going before and leaving Danny behind with his own look of confusion. It was no wonder Phantom was so weird. He dad was obviously off his rocker.

Shaking his head to help get himself back to normal Danny turned back to his own mission and entered the building. Heading towards a door that lead to the stairs he walked up until he'd finally got to the fourth floor. Popping his head out of the stairwell he made sure that no one was in the halls before he made his way over to the door marked 44.

Just as he was about to knock he found his fist hovering inches away from the wood that separated him and Nights. What was he doing? He was going to sabotage his Mother's plans so that he could save the life of Nights. A ghost. Ghosts were what he'd been raised his who;e life to hate. They were what he was on this earth to get rid of. He wasn't supposed to be trying to help one get away from the people that were after him. He was supposed to be one of those people. Instead of trying to warn Nights he should have brought his thermos and caught him, than delivered him to his Mom and Walker himself. He should have allowed Walker to take him when he had the chance. He should have kept Sam on to help him catch Nights rather than put her behind the screens to keep the guy safe.

There was a lot of things he should have been doing. This wasn't one of them. It didn't even come close. In fact it was going to fall strictly into the pile of 'Never'. Slowly it dawned on Danny that the actions in the 'Never' pile were quickly adding up and soon enough they were going to outweigh the 'Should Have' pile that he'd been neglecting.

But he couldn't let this go. He couldn't allow himself to just stand by and let something happen to Nights if he could do something to stop it.

Without any further hesitation, Danny knocked on the door.

Realization only hit him a moment later that any one of the houses living occupants could very well open the door just as much as Nights could. With that thought in mind he quickly turned his back and started to walk away just as someone opened the door.

"Fenton?"

Freezing in his tracks Danny almost swore to himself. Of course, of all people that it had to be, the apartment belonged to Phantom.

Letting out a long sigh Danny turned around, placing his hands into the pocket of his jacket as he turned to face his 'twin'.

"Phantom, what a surprise." He muttered, giving a flat look to the others raised brow.

"You knocked on my door."

Shaking his head Danny gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Ya sorry, I thought it belonged to someone else." He lied, "I guess I must have...just gone to the wrong one. Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Phantom said, his tone easy but the smirk settling over his face making Danny's stomach flip with nerves. "Just who were you looking for? Maybe I could help."

"No one." Danny shot out quickly, a little to quickly. His sudden answer only seemed to make to smirk over the others face grow and Danny found that he hated it. Why did it seem like whenever he saw this guy he was mocking him in some way? "Just forget it. I'll go look for them on the other floor."

Phantom was apparently content with that as his chuckle was cut short by the solid snap of the door closing. Rolling his eyes skywards Danny wasn't to sure what to do next. Maybe he could change really quickly into his hunting gear and than come back. Tell the guy that there was a ghost in his house and that he needed to get out of the area until Danny could clear it. That would just lead to all kinds of problems however and he wasn't to keen on explain to his mother just why there was a ghost alert for this address. That and also he'd already ruled out the option of outing Nights haunting place to his mother so that was a defiant no go.

With a groan he turned back to the direction of the stairwell and made his way down again. Sure he couldn't just waltz into Phantom's house. Actually now that he was thinking about it how had he not gotten caught the first time? It's not like him and Nights were quiet. Brushing it off for the time being he swiftly ran down the stairs until he was on the bottom floor. Pushing against the door he made his way out into the mouth of the alley next to the building. Sure he couldn't go inside, but maybe he could call Nights outside.

"Nights!"

This was such a stupid idea. People were going to notice him calling into the air after awhile and they were going to think that he was crazy. Did Nights even want to see him right now? He really had been royal pissing the other off over the passed few weeks. Really if Nights just flat out ignored him than he couldn't say that he didn't deserve it. He'd had such a long walk here and he hadn't even given proper thought about what he was supposed to do once he got here. Great.

"Nights!"

"What?"

Danny let out a very unmanly screech at the sudden voice that came from behind him. He'd thought that Nights would have flown down from the top floor or something. The last thing that he'd thought would happen would be for the other to sneak up on him like some crook.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself he spun around on his heels and turned to face the boy.

Although he couldn't see Nights' face he could see the scowl set over the others face and from the way that his hands were shoved deeply into his hood Danny had no doubt that it was taking him everything he had to not just charge at him.

Oh ya, he was not happy with him...

"Don't sneak up on me like that." Probably not the best idea to become agitated and use such a harsh tone right off the bat, but Danny didn't bother worrying about it as he leaned against the building behind him, propping one foot up as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I need to talk to you about something."

Nights shifted, his feet dragging along the ground for a moment as he eyed Danny up and down. Biting down on the inside of his cheek the hunter couldn't help but wonder just what the other was looking for. Had their relationship really gotten so bad that Nights was openly looking for weapons

Man, he'd really screwed up.

When Nights was finished, satisfied enough to give a nod of his head and move closer, Danny found himself relaxing too.

"What is it?" Nights questioned, his voice sounding oddly at ease as he continued towards the other at a somewhat slow pace.

"It's about my Mom and Walker." There really was no need to beat around the bush. He had to get his facts out there and fast. He didn't know how much longer he had until Nights took off, his mother called him in, or her and Walker both put their plan into action.

"Boring."

A small yelp almost slipped passed Danny's lips when Nights disappeared and than showed up again inches from his face. He had no time to move on his own before fingers hooked into his belt loops and pulled him forward so they were pressed hip to hip, and chest to chest.

"I thought that you'd want to talk about something a little more...interesting. Considering that your 'chastity belt' is gone." Nights grinned, his sharp teeth uncomfortably close to Danny's lips as he spoke. His tone alone was enough to make the experienced hunter weak in the knees, but he tried to stay on point as he placed a hand against the ghost's shoulders and shoved him back the slightest.

"Don't call it that." He growled, staring straight back into the dull, green glow of the others eyes. "Be serious Nights. We need to talk about this."

"We need to talk about quite a few things." Nights hissed back but he let the other go and allowed Danny to resettle himself against the wall. "Why's this so important?"

"My Mom's talking to Walker." Danny supplied again, only feeling his frustration grow when the boy shrugged.

"So? I would be surprised that she would talk to a ghost at all if I didn't know that he wasn't some ghost hating, caging, maniac as well."

"Don't apply that title to my Mother." Danny snapped, and briefly he couldn't help but wonder just why he was helping this guy. "And don't be cocky. Sure maybe you could get away from one or the other, but if they work together you're done."

Nights scoffed, shaking his head as he took a step back and once again slid his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"Says you."

A flick of rage swirled in his stomach at being brushed off so easily. He'd come all the way here, him, a hunter, to protect a ghost. A ghost who apparently didn't give two craps about his own safety since he was hung up over some stupid little...

Before his mind could catch up with his body Danny lashed out, grabbing fistfuls of Nights' jacket and spinning them around until the ghost had slammed painfully into the wall. Nights snarled right back at him, hissing out a curse as his eyes pulsed a strong green that mirrored the rage that Danny felt. Without giving the other any more time to react Danny pressed his lips firmly against Nights' own.

All of the hissing and growled rage came to a stop. The ghost's whole body froze as any attempts to get away from the other or start a fight were dropped. When Danny pulled away he still could feel the low burn in his gut, his glare not easing up one bit as he pinned the other in place with just his gaze alone.

"There. I kissed you because I like you." Might as well just get that out of the way. There was no point in denying an attraction that they both had, especially if Nights was going to be petty about it. "And because I like you I don't want to see you caught by either my Mom or Walker. Get it?"

For once in his live Nights appeared stunned into silence. The only thing he seemed able to do was give a small nod of his head in answer. Taking that as what it was Danny finally let the other go and backed off. He watched as Nights nearly stumbled before he managed to collect himself and straightened up again. Not for the first time did Danny find it a loss that he couldn't see the others face at all due to the dark lighting in the hood. He would have loved to poke fun at the other for the blush he was sure was well situated over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know what they're planing," he admitted his gaze never once letting up from Nights, "but Tucker told me that they're talking, and if they're doing that it can't be any good. Worse yet however I have no doubt that they also might be planning something."

"Okay." Nights muttered, his voice oddly small and weak.

Was that all he had to do to through Nights off his game? Well he wished that he would have known that earlier.

A second later however and Nights cleared his throat, shaking himself out before a wolfish grin made its way over his face.

"Knew you couldn't resist me though."

Slapping a hand to his face with a groan Danny didn't know what else to do.

"Nights!" He snapped, shoving a finger so hard into the others chest that it forced him back against the wall. "This is serious! How can you not see that? You have to go before either Walker or my Mom catches you."

He glare didn't let up any as Nights fisted his hands into the top of his jacket, and he found that he had to lift up his forearm and place it just above Nights head to keep himself from colliding with the one before him as Nights tugged him closer.

"I'm not worried about your Mom." Nights grinned and Danny felt his mind blank for a moment as a warm tongue pressed just underneath his throat and across his jaw line. "And if Walker wants me," Nights whispered in his ear, the hot breath sending an involuntary shiver down the hunters spine, "than he can come and get me."

"He almost did the first time." Danny gritted out through clenched teeth, trying to hold back a loud hiss when the sharp teeth moved down to his throat and pinched the skin. "If it hadn't been for the shield or me you would have been taken by Walker."

"He caught me off guard." Nights shrugged, and Danny could just feel the asshole smirking when his fingers ran over a sensitive place on his back causing his breath to hitch.

Danny tried to stay focused on their conversation. He really needed Nights to see how serious this was and to take the proper measure to make sure that he wasn't going to get caught. Unfortunately Nights just seemed far more interested in all the places of Danny's body that he could get to now that he was wearing civilian clothes rather than his normal jumpsuit get up.

"Nights." The name came out a little more breathless than he would have liked, but he was still able to use his free hand to push the other back into the wall and reclaim his space. His stomach flipped as he watched a cute, little, pink tongue dart out to lick across the others lips and he found himself swallowing hard as what else that tongue could be licking flashed through his mind. Shaking his head to rid him of the image he glare at the smirking face. "You have got to get out of here. For your own safety leave Amity Park and go somewhere else."

"We both know I can't do that. Not so long as there are ghosts here that I need to protect from you. So how about this instead?" Nights purred, reaching out his hands to paw at the other before Danny managed to get a hold of them. "You stop hunting, and I'll go."

It was easy to get a hold of his hands the second time. Finally lowering his arm so that he could snatch up both of Nights' wrists in his own hands he pressed them against the wall to stop the onslaught from the ghost. Nights didn't seem to mind, and when he bit down on the corner of his lip and his green eyes flashed to show just how interested he was in the whole thing Fenton just about forgot what he was trying to tell the other in the first place.

"You know I can't do that." He found the words slipping passed his lips without much thought, apparently even though his brain appeared out to lunch it still knew enough about what was going on to respond.

"Than I guess that I'm not going anywhere."

Even though he'd been trying to chase Nights away for months, and he was trying to get him to leave now if only for his own protection, Danny still found that a huge weight that had settled on his shoulders lifted with the others words. It was than that he realized that he didn't want Nights to go. Not really. He just wanted to be selfish and keep the ghost with him at all times. He didn't want to ignore him anymore. He wanted Nights to stay close. He wanted to be able to protect him if anything happened. He wanted to keep him from Sam, his Mother, and Walker. He didn't want anyone else to get their hands on this strange little oddity that he'd found himself growing attached to.

But it was just so wrong.

Letting the other go Danny jerked back a few steps as if he'd been burnt. Scowling to himself he ran his hands through his hair and paced a few feet away from the stunned male. Cursing lowly to himself Danny tried to sort through his scattered thoughts the best way he could. He hated this. He knew what he wanted. He knew what Nights wanted, but they just, they just...couldn't. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Why couldn't he like some nice, living, girl? Why did he have to like some to cocky for his own good, infuriatingly meddlesome, ghost, that seemed hell bent on making his life difficult?

Coming to a sudden stop he ran his hands down his face as he tilted his head back and let out a long sigh. At what point had his life become this screwed up?

"We can't be doing this Nights." He snapped, hearing a long drawn out sigh from his side.

"And here we go again." Nights mumbled, his voice low enough that Danny wasn't even sure if the boy intended for him to hear it. "And just why not?"

"Because I'm a hunter and you're a ghost!" Danny barked as he rounded on the other, throwing his hands up in the air as if that would help validate his point. "The only thing I'm supposed to do with you is learn about you and keep you locked up! Nothing else! Jeez, I should be helping my Mom and Walker, not sabotaging their plans by warning you." He hissed, dropping his arms and turning so that his side was facing the other. "God what am I doing?"

"Fenton." Danny whacked his hand away when Nights placed it on his shoulder. The ghost didn't appear to take it to heart however and instead slipped before Danny to catch his attention. "Why are you warning me?"

How was he supposed to tell Nights that when he didn't even know himself?

"You said you liked me." Nights continued, "Just about two seconds ago. You said that you liked me and that you wanted to warning me, so obviously you want to keep me safe. You're always warning me and trying to keep me safe."

"I just...it's not..." Danny stumbled over his words, he wasn't even sure what he was trying to say only that he knew that he was trying to say something. "Nights I..."

"Why is it so hard for you to just accept this? You seemed fine just a few minutes ago. What happened?"

He hated being interrogated like this, but he could see why Nights was trying to figure out what was going on. It must have been just as confusing for him as it was for Danny.

"I'm a hunter Nights..."

"Like I don't know that." Nights mumbled, no doubt rolling his eyes. "What's really the problem here?"

Rubbing his hands over his face he made his way back over to the wall. He just needed something to lean against. Something that could help him feel grounded again. Pressing his back against it he slid to the concrete, his one knee pulled up to his chest while the other laid bent across the ground. It didn't take very long for Nights to join him. Sitting on the ground in front of him he placed a hand on Danny's propped up knee and placed his cheek against his fist, his other leg sliding underneath the crook of Danny's knee while the other was crossed under his butt to allow him a little added height.

It was strange, but having the other close like this was comforting. Reaching out Danny placed his hand on top of the boy's hood, ruffling it just enough to make it known as an affectionate gesture, but not enough to move the hood back to the point of making the other uncomfortable.

"I've been raised my whole life to hate you guys." He muttered, hearing a hum from Nights to show that he was paying attention. "My Mom taught me everything that I needed to know. We've studied you guys for years." Resting his head back he looked up at the sky, seeing the greying clouds that were common in the colder months. "I just don't get how we could have gotten so much of it wrong."

Nights moved his head enough to move his resting place from his cheek to his chin, but other than that he seemed quite content on staying where he was.

"You live a lot of your life the way you do because of your Mother." He said, drawing Danny's attention back to the black shadow that hid his face. "Why do you think she's always right?"

He'd never thought of it that way. If there was one thing that he was certain of while he grew up it was just to follow his mother's orders without question and everything would be okay in the end. With the more time he spent with Nights the more he was starting to believe that maybe it was a possibility that she didn't know everything. Maybe his Mother's research had been about just that at one time, but the more that he found himself looking back or following her orders the more Danny was starting to wonder if her research no longer played any part in what she was doing and her rage towards them was poisoning her mind against anything that she could learn.

Danny opened his mouth, but when he couldn't think of what to say he slowly closed it and melted into the wall.

"I came to warn you."

"I know." Nights mumbled, gently rubbing at Danny's knee in an oddly well calming manner. "You did."

"I..."

"It's cool Hunter." Nights said, and Danny was glad that he'd been interrupted because he had no idea where he was going with what little of an excuse he'd been thinking.

The warmth of the ghost was a sudden loss when Nights got up, floating with his hands in his pockets as he stared down at the other.

"Thanks for the warning Fenton, but I'm not going anywhere. I can't." He sighed before giving a shrug of his shoulders. "But maybe you should think more about your situation too."

Forcing himself to get up Danny knew that what Nights was saying was true. His head was in a million different places. He knew what he wanted, but at the same time he had no idea were he stood. He knew he should have been backing his mother up one hundred percent, but he was finding now that even if he did say it he wouldn't have really meant it. He knew that he was on his mother's side, but he was also leaning more towards Nights' side as well.

"I'll see you later than Nights." He mumbled, his gaze being drawn upward at the sound of the others chuckling.

"Already looking forward to it."


	18. Chapter 18

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 18

Danny stopped outside his door, his hand frozen just inches away from the handle. There was something off. Sure he'd left Fenton in the alleyway just a few minutes ago after watching him walk off from his place on the roof, but the sudden twisting in his gut had nothing to do with the hunter and everything to do with years of spending time lock in a room with a giant one way mirror. It was the dread of being watched by an unseen source. Of knowing that someone was there, hiding in plain sight right before him and yet effortlessly concealed. He could feel the old paranoia creeping up his spine, creating a dull ache at the base of his skull and twisting his stomach. He fought a losing battle with himself to turn away from the door and take a quick glance of his surroundings. Just as he knew it would though his eyes hadn't caught one thing out of place, and yet, that only made him feel worse.

He'd only been gone for a few minutes. Twenty at the most. Sure it was quiet a bit of time, but Danny hadn't heard one person enter or leave the building the whole time he was with Fenton. He'd been listening for it.

Chalking it up to his rightfully earned suspicion Danny forced himself to open the door and step back into his apartment.

For once he wouldn't have minded his father being here. Even knowing that the man would have chewed him out and grounded him for life after seeing just what his son had been up to when he was out and just what kind of relationship he'd managed to create with a hunter. He would have welcomed it with open arms if he could have. Without his father here the whole place was just filled with so much silence. It was odd. He'd never really noticed it before. Never really had a reason to since he was always out and about doing his own thing and than normally had the TV on when he was home but...he could have swore that he could hear the air moving in the silence that was suddenly to loud.

Chewing on his bottom lip he winched as he shut the door. Even the dull thud of it coming to a close left his ears ringing at the volume in the quiet house. A thought crossed over his mind about tip toeing through the place until his Dad got back, but he quickly realized how ridiculous that was and pushed it from his mind.

It's not like there was some serial killer hiding around the corner. He shouldn't have to feel the need to check ever corner and hiding place just to make sure that no one was lurking around the area, and yet... Danny cursed out his stupidity as he found himself doing just that. Wandering quietly around his house until he'd check under every table and bed and behind every curtain. His face burned when he came up empty handed, just as he knew he would, but a small part of him also let out a sigh of relief at his lack of findings.

Scowling at himself he marched back into his living room, shedding his jacket as he went and throwing it on the back of the couch. As he went to turn on his game station he found his irritation growing when the normal whirling sound came up jerky and the screen displayed an error with the system. Leaning forward he popped open the station to see just what was wrong with it. His brows quirked up at seeing a white piece of something folded up in a square moving around in a circle with the disc. Placing his hand down he stopped it in its tracks and lifted the item up. Now seeing that it was a folded piece of paper he felt his curiosity grow as he carefully peeled it open.

He choked on his next breath of air at the sight of the neatly written words across the crumpled surface of the paper. His stomach rolled and he found himself clasping his hands over his mouth as he sprinted to the bathroom, barely making it in time to throw up in the toilet. As he finished heaving, resting his head against his forearm and gasping for air, he found that the words were burned into his mind.

Found you my little badger.

(***)

Danny stopped outside his door, his hand frozen to the handle and unable to turn it even the slightest. Even though he'd taken the long way back to his house his thoughts didn't feel anymore sorted now than they had when he started, if anything it all just got so much worse with the more time he spent festering over it. He had no idea what he was supposed to do about Nights. No idea where he stood as a hunter. The world as he knew it was slowly crumbling underneath his feet and he didn't know which ledge to grab onto to stay standing.

Pressing his head against the door he took in a deep breath through his nose. Letting it out through his mouth he opened his eyes and rolled his shoulders back. He could so this. He could walk into his house and play like nothing was wrong until he could figure out what was going on. Nobody had to know what was going on in his head, and he didn't have to say a word about it until he was ready to talk about it. They weren't mind readers after all, and so far no one other than Tucker really knew what was happening between the two. There. That was a good game plan. Just keep quiet about it until he could figure out just what was going on and where he stood with it all.

But what if they did find out?

Nights was dead. He was a ghost. Did that make Danny a necrophiliac? Oh dear god. What was his family going to think about that? His Mom would lose her mind, and Jazz would no doubt want to do some serious mental studying, and Sam...she was going to beat him within an inch of his life he was sure. Or maybe none of them would ever speak to him again. When had his life turned into such a mess? When had he allowed himself to wander so far down a road that he no longer even knew which way he was going? How could it have been possible for one person-or ghost-to have this much of an effect in his life?

Groaning into his hands he dropped his head against the door-hard. He winched at the loud sound that echoed, no doubt alerting anyone inside that there was someone at their door. Considering the fact that his mother was always on her toes with would treat any sudden noise as a threat he didn't spend much more time hanging outside the door. The last thing he needed right now was for his mother to accidentally attack him because she thought he was a threat.

Turning the handle he pushed the door open and entered into his home with a fake smile plastered over his face.

As he kicked off his shoes a warm burn slowly crept over his face and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He was use to the feeling, of being watched by people he hadn't seen yet. After all of his years spent fighting he had a good sense for that kind of thing.

Upon instinct he could feel every muscle in his body tense and his weight discreetly shifted to the balls of his feet. If he was about to be attack he wanted to be ready. When his gaze finally snapped over to where the feeling was coming from however he found his body relaxing at the sight of his Mother, Jazz, Sam and...Vlad?

"Uncle Vlad!" A full blown smile overcame his face, blinding him to the fact that they were all frowning at him as he walked over to the man. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still running your research team up in Antarctica?"

The older man placed down the cup of tea he'd been drinking, replacing it on it's saucer as he gave a warm smile to the younger male.

"My team can make do without me for a month or so." He said as he got to his feet, meeting Danny before the boy could even make it to the coffee table. "You're looking well my dear boy."

Danny grasped the hand that was offered out to him as he smiled up at the man who had always been a stand in father figure. Even if he never really got to see much of Vlad, the guy was seen by everyone as a close member of the family. He'd known them for as long as Danny could remember, even longer actually. Apparently him and his mother had been old friends as far back as collage.

"Although I'm afraid to say but it appears that I might have come at a bad time." Vlad said as they released each other from their hand shake and a frown overcame his features.

Danny could feel his own smile melt away as he finally gave a quick glance to the rest of the people sitting on the couch behind them.

"Wait. What happened? Is someone hurt?"

Looking over everyone that was there he was relieved to see that none of them had any marks or injuries that he could see. Still that didn't mean that they were in the safe zone. What if one of them had been been hurt in an area that was covered by clothing? Or if they got smoked in the back of the head? Had they been trying to contact him when he was out with Nights and he hadn't been able to get their messages for help since he was so distracted?

"Danny we need to talk." Maddie said, motioning to the chair that had been placed in front of the couch.

He couldn't help but feel a little foolish over the fact that he hadn't noticed something that was so out of place until it had been pointed out, but ever so slowly he made his way over to the chair and took a seat. Once he was seated he took a moment to really look at everyone else in the room. Vlad had reseated himself, taking his place between Maddie and Jazz while Same sat to the other side of his Mother and the arm of the couch. It didn't sit well with him that none of them were smiling. While they all had different expressions written over their faces, worry, disappointment, anger, the one thing that they all seemed to have in common was that none of them appeared to be to thrilled about whatever was going to happen next.

"What's this all about?" He asked, propping his elbow up on the arm of the chair so that he could rest his chin in his hand, quirking an brow.

For a brief moment he managed to catch Sam's gaze. Unfortunately her eyes were unreadable passed the small flame of rage that was flickering to the surface. Whatever this was about he had no doubt that she had some sort of hand in it. She didn't hold his gaze long, simply crossing her arms and letting out a huff as she sunk back into the couch. It was almost as if she couldn't believe that he even had to ask, but honestly he couldn't think of anything he'd done lately that would make all of them gang up on him like this.

His attention was stolen by Vlad once more when the man gave him a smile as warm as the beverage he was drinking. While he picked up the cup again he crossed one leg over the other and took a careful sip before he spoke.

"There are just a few things that we feel that we might have to discuss with you my dear boy. A few things that your mother has brought to my attention that screams with the need of some redirecting and guidance."

"Wait." A scoff slipped passed Danny's lips as he dropped both of his elbows down on his knees and leaned forward. "Is this-" he mumbled waving his hand in their general direction, "is this an intervention?" The smile that he had forced over his lips fell at the serious looks that he received in turn. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I spoke to Walker today." Maddie said, her sharp nails tapping against her arms in their crossed like state. "I wanted to talk to him about that one ghost we've been having a problem with lately. Do you know what he asked me in turn Danny?" She asked, and he could feel his stomach drop down to his toes at the answer he knew that she was going to give. "He asked me how that ghost we were taking care of was doing. The one that we were allowing into our home and explaining the 'rules' too."

He knew that he should have let Walker take Nights. He knew that this was going to come back to bite him in the ass. Still, he couldn't say that he regretted his decision to keep Nights away from the Warren. He just wished that he didn't have to explain this to his mother.

She didn't appear done with her story though and he found himself swallowing thickly as she tilted her head to the side just the slightest.

"Of coarse I had no idea what he was talking about, but imagine my surprise when I mention this to Sam to see if she knew anything. Apparently this ghost has been bothering you personally has it?"

"He's been bothering all of us." Danny said, trying to tone down just how often Nights and him ended up alone together. "He attacks both you and Sam as well whenever we go out hunting."

Her fingers stopped tapping, frozen to her upper arm as she shifted in her seat, her eyes narrowing in on him like a hawk. Danny couldn't help the feeling of vulnerability seep into his soul under her gaze. He felt just like a mouse scampering away from the mighty predator. It was only going to be a matter of time before he was snatched up.

"Be that as it may I certainly have never played video games with it. Nor have I ever partook in any civil conversations, ignoring the opportunity to catch it when I had the chance."

A bitter taste filled Danny's mouth at the chosen words of his mother. He'd always been uncomfortable with the 'it' and 'things' calling of ghosts. It had just felt so wrong to dehumanize them like that. They had been people at one point after all. Hearing it applied to Nights just felt ten times worse. Nights was way to lively to be debased to merely an object, and regardless of how annoying he was to fight he showed himself to be a formidable foe. That alone should have earned him at least enough respect to be worth the proper title.

"Look, he was just a little lonely and he wasn't bothering anyone at those times. If you got to know him Nights is actually..."

A chores of gasps cut him off before he could finish. At hearing the nickname their faces took on a more urgent look, their eyes growing wider as his Mother clasped her hands to her mouth, her eyes shining with unshead tears.

Honestly Danny didn't think it was that bad. It was just a name. A nickname that he'd come up for, for a ghost sure, but still just a name.

"You were right!" Maddie's sudden squeak of an exclamation made them all jump, but no one jump quite as high as Sam as his mother rounded on her and grasped her hands tightly. "I didn't want to believe it but it's true!"

"Danial," Danny clenched his teeth at the sound of his full name, his gaze shifting over to Vlad as the older man intertwined his fingers and rested them on his crossed legs, "you must understand the danger that your situation causes."

"No you don't understand..."

"You've been fighting ghosts all of your life dear boy," Vlad carried on, interrupting the boy as if he hadn't spoken, "just what on earth made you think that befriending one was a good idea?"

"Vlad, guys you don't..."

"It could have an alternate motive." Biting back on his tongue when he was interrupted once more Danny could feel his fingers curling into a tight fist. "If this ghost is acting friendly Danny," Well wasn't that just the understatement of the century? "It is not to be trusted. It is not human Danial. Not anymore. All that is left now is a shell of what it once was."

"Danny I can't believe that you've been going behind my back!" His mother cried, turning on him now that she had finished letting Sam know just how wrong she was not to take her word.

"Mom I..."

"Running around town and taking to that-that thing! Inviting it into our home!?" She continued. "What if it hurt you!?"

"Stop calling him that!"

The outburst through them all off. Even Danny himself was shocked by how loudly he'd shouted at his own mother. Without thinking about it his hand came up to clamp over his mouth, but the damage had already been done. Sliding his hand down his face Danny rested his elbow on his knee again, not bothering to look at any of their faces as he just stared at the table in front of him.

"Look, Nights isn't a bad ghost." He muttered, part of him still in denial over the fact that he was actually defending the one who had made his life a living hell. "He's actually really nice, and he's fun to hangout with. He only ever attacks me if I'm hunting and even than it's not like he's trying to kill any of us." Finally bringing his attention upward he locked his gaze with his mother. She didn't look impressed at all and he almost felt the next words he had die on his tongue from just that single glance. "If he wanted to kill us I'm sure it would be all to easy to do so. So why hasn't he?"

"Well isn't it obvious my dear boy?" Vlad questioned, pulling Danny's attention from his mother back to his Uncle. "If he befriends you than he can learn more about you. Figure out your weaknesses. It's all just part of some bigger game don't you see?"

"No. No I don't see it at all." Danny muttered darkly. "He isn't like that. You guys don't know him like I do. He wouldn't..."

"Wouldn't what Danny?" Sam interrupted, finally speaking as her stormy purple eyes lock with his screaming blue. "He wouldn't hurt you?"

"Yes."

His word was final. He wasn't going to argue with Sam on this point. Neither of them was going to back down and it would lead to nothing more than an endless circle if he tried to prove his point. Besides, Sam had seen Nights, she'd met him before. Sure none of those times were on good terms, and it was true that while out on patrol Nights would attack her, but she must have been able to tell that he wasn't using his full potential. She must have known that he was going out of his way to make sure that he didn't hurt any of the hunters passed anything other than a few bruises.

"I believe that Nights would never hurt me."

Her lips pressed into a tight thin line as she took in his words. Her cheeks were flushing an awful red in her rage, and neither of them backed down from this glaring contest that they had unknowingly walked into. Danny wasn't going to back down on his opinion, but neither was she.

When she stood the motion was so sudden that it caused the other occupants on the couch to jump. Danny stayed firm in his resolve however as she now towered over him. Vlad seemed to be the only one uninfected by the action, simply taking another sip of tea as he watched the scene unfold. No one made a move to stop her when she ripped her jacket off of the back of the couch and stormed over to the door. Danny didn't take his eyes off of her, knowing that she wasn't quite finished with him yet. His point was proven true when she turned back to him, her hand tightly wrapped around the doorknob as if she was picturing it as his neck instead.

"You know what Danny? My Grandmother thought the same thing."

Nobody said a word as she shoved her arms threw the sleeves, mumbling a thank you to Maddie before ripping the door open and slamming it closed. It was only once he was gone that Danny ran a hand threw his hair, muttering a low curse under his breath as the rest of the eyes turned back to him.

"I'll go talk to her." Jazz sighed as she got up, snatching her coat off the hanger by the door before she too was gone, leaving Danny at the mercy of the two oldest members.

His attention wasn't on them though, he was to lost in his own thoughts about Sam. He should have played that better knowing what he did about her past with ghosts. If anyone had a reason to be particularly paranoid of ghosts it was Sam. Maybe he should have played that one a little closer to the chest. He was going to have to talk to her at some point and apologize. But that didn't mean that he was going to back down from his own stand on the subject, he could just understand where she was coming from.

"You must understand my dear boy," Vlad said, drawing the younger male back to the last two people that were still here, "we're just trying to help you."

"You guys have no idea what you're talking about." Danny muttered, giving a roll of his eyes as he sat back in his seat and dropped his chin into his hand.

"Danny! You've fought against ghosts for years! You of all people know how dangerous they are!" Maddie cried as she brought both of her hands to her face before she bite down lightly on a cloth covered nail.

"Exactly!" Danny shouted as he threw his arms up in the air. "We've been fighting ghosts for years and I've learned more about them in the passed few months from Nights than I ever have from hunting them down and running tests!" That seemed to make his mother stop as she sat there and stared wide eyed at her son. "In the last few months I've never once seen him go after a human that wasn't attacking a ghost. He's just trying to protect them Mom, and you have to admit that what we do isn't all that fair. I mean can we really blame the ghosts for fighting back when we go after them first? That's like blaming a person from punching you when you started the fight first."

The room fell silent. While Vlad looked at the red head from the corner of his eye, all of Maddie's attention was on her son. Just like the staring contest he'd had with Sam, Danny didn't let up.

"I don't know what's gotten into you Danny, but this is not how I raised you." Her words cut deeper into Danny than he would have liked, but he didn't cower. He refused to back down on this if only for Nights' sake. "The next time I see that thing I am going to catch it, and we are going to run our tests like we always do, and you are going to hand him over to Walker personally. Do I make myself clear?"

Crossing his arms over his chest Danny took in a deep breath. He already knew what his answer was. He didn't even have to think about it, and that scared him even more than the idea of disappointing his mother.

So he didn't say anything.

Placing his hands on the arm rests he pushed himself up and gave a shake of his head.

"I'm done." He muttered, waving a hand to his mother when she opened her mouth to no doubt press the issue. "I'm going to my room, I've got homework to work on."

Turning his back on them Danny kept his clenched fists at his sides while he marched up to the stairs. Vlad called his name however, before his fingers could even lightly graze the banister. Shifting his gaze over to the frowning face of his 'somewhat father figure', his eyes narrowed.

"Just think about it Danny, ghosts have very fickle moods. He could turn dangerous at any moment and when he does, be prepared for the worst."

Danny just scowled at them before he continued up to his room.

(Ghosts!)

"My whole family is against you."

The words left his lips before he was even aware of where he was. The more he blinked his eyes though the more everything came into focus as he stared at the cloudless sky above him. He figured he must have been laying down in order to see it so well, but he didn't bother getting up as he felt someone sit down beside him.

"And yet you're still sneaking out to see me anyways." Nights snickered, the smirk in his voice evident as he draped an arm over his bent knee.

"Don't flatter yourself." Danny said with a roll of his eyes. "We had to meet today to talk about ghosts."

"Is that the only reason you met up with me today?" Nights grinned as he finally leaned down to block out the hunters view.

"Cut it out." He mumbled, only a slight hint of annoyance in his voice as he raised a hand to push the other away. Nights just leaned in closer though, his slightly sharp teeth seeming to gleam from the black abyss of his hood.

"What? You know you can't resist me." The ghost said as his smirk stretched even wider while his bright green eyes seemed to glow like they had in the dark building Nights had cornered him in a few days ago.

Just remembering that made a bright blush sweep across Danny's face which he tried to hide when the other chuckled at him for it.

"I have a serious problem here." Danny tried while Nights just hummed lightly as he moved his attention to nuzzling the boy's cheek, his other hand trailing shamelessly down the boy's chest. "They all honestly think that you're going to hurt me. I have to find out a way to prove that it's not true." He muttered, more to himself than the one not paying attention as his brows tilted while he watched the sky suddenly seem to swirl with angry, grey clouds that came out of nowhere and blotted out the pure blue.

"How do you know its not true?" Nights questioned as Danny felt the lips at his cheek twist into a smirk.

"What do you mean N.."

However a scream interrupted him before he could finish and it took a moment before he recognized it as his own. His body jerked violently as a pain seemed to suddenly explode across his chest, making him heave for air that never seemed to fill his lungs as he clung to the one above him like a life line. When Nights pulled back though he felt his mouth slip open as his eyes went unbelievably wide at the sight of what was clenched tightly in Nights hands.

His own heart, still beating, and pouring dark blood over the ghostly white fingers with every throb. His stomach curled as he watched helplessly while Nights bit into the strong organ before tearing a piece off, his own blood dripping down the ghost's chin as Nights eye's turned from green to black.

"You know Danny." Nights snickered, his smirk sliding even wider as he brought their faces closer together, making Danny's stomach toss at the smell of his blood on the others tongue. "They were right."

His vision faded on him when he felt cold, lifeless lips press against his.

Danny bolted up on his bed with a start. Cold sweat dripping off his face and chest as his heart hammered quickly behind his ribs, its cries muffled by his skin. Gasping for air he quickly slammed his hand against his chest while his eyes dropped down to see if there really was anything wrong with it. He felt an enormous amount of relief wash over him when he saw that nothing had been ripped out and everything looked to be in its place.

Dropping back on his bed he draped his arm over his eyes as his chest heaved with the effort it took for him to breath while he tried to force his heart rate back down to normal, to force himself to relax. He had no idea what that dream was supposed to mean, but it had all felt so real. The pain, the images, everything. Danny felt as if he closed his eyes and Night would be right there, as if when he would open them again Nights would be standing at the end of his bed, just smirking down at him with his heart in his hand.

Rolling over on his side the raven haired male buried his face into his pillows as he tried to will the dream from his and fall back to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 19

He couldn't stop shaking. He'd tried to but nothing he did made him stop. His whole body felt like it was on vibrate and it had been hours since he'd burned the note. He couldn't tell his father though. Not after he had just moved here, not after his father finally thought he was strong enough to fend for his own. This though? He wasn't ready for this. It had only happened a few years ago, and he still woke up almost every night screaming. He wasn't ready for this, he didn't want a confrontation.

It just seemed that life wasn't going to give him a choice.

Taking in a deep breath he ran a shaking hand threw his hair before closing his eyes briefly. They only managed to stay closed for a moment though before they snapped open and he fell back on his bed as his heart seemed to race while he gasped for air. Bolting back up he wrapped his fingers up in his hair as he gulped down deep breaths while placing his head in between his legs.

Why was he back anyway? Hadn't he already gotten everything that he needed? Hadn't he already destroyed Danny enough? What else could he possibly want? How had he found him anyways?

Shaking his head of the questions Danny took in a deep breath before he pushed himself off the bed and went to his window, slipping on his shoes on the way. Pulling the window open he stepped out onto the fire escape and headed up until he was at the window right above his. A small smile tugged at his lips when he saw Val angrily chewing on the end of her pencil as she glared down at a text book that laid open on her desk.

Knocking lightly on the window he gave her a small smile when she jumped and spun around with her eyes a little wider than normal. When she saw it was him though she rolled her eyes with a small smile before she stood from her desk and walked over to the window. The moment she had it pulled open his allowed himself to slide in while she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall.

"You know I have a door." She said with a single brow arched as he shrugged with a halfhearted smirk.

"Takes to long." He said as he placed his hands in his pockets and made his way over to her bed.

Without waiting for a word from her he flopped down on the soft sheets and allowed his arms to hang over the edge of the bed while letting out a huff. Wiggling his fingers he kept his eyes on the other side of the door before he dropped his face into the sheets beneath him.

The room was silent for a long moment, the only sounds being her light steps as she made her way over to her bed and sat down next to him. He tightened his hands into fist when he felt one of her small hands rubbing soothing circles on his back before he buried his head into his arm that was furthest away from her.

Really he didn't know why he was here. Maybe he just didn't feel like being alone right now, but maybe it was a bad idea to visit Val. What if Vlad was watching him right now and he decided to hurt her? What if he accidentally dragged her into this miss that he was in. Valerie was a strong girl, but would she be able to hold her own against the man with countless weapons at his disposable? Could he drag her into this? Could he keep her safe?

The more the thoughts ran threw his head the more his body started to shake as he pulled his arms back to his body, crossing them tightly and blocking out any source of light as he buried his head into them.

He hadn't been able to keep his mother safe, if he couldn't do that how could he help her? Would Hunter help them? Or would Hunter end up joining the man in his quest to do horrid things to him? How long was Danny going to be able to last if Vlad, Maddie, Walker and Fenton were after him? Maddie and Walker he could handle, Hunter was a little bit love struck with him at the moment, but Vlad? What was he going to do if the man poisoned all of them against him even more than they already were?

"Do you want to sleep over tonight?" Val asked softly as she played with the ends of his hair for a moment before ruffling the soft white locks.

Danny hesitated, wondering if maybe that was okay to do, before he nodded his head and just went boneless against the bed. He didn't want to be alone tonight, he didn't want to be sleeping in his bed and wonder if the next time he opened his eyes he would be tied to a table with a countless amount of instruments poking into him everywhere, all attached to some big machines. He also didn't want to leave Val alone. What if Vlad knew about her and tried to kidnap her when she was alone? He wouldn't let that happen.

"Can I sleep on the bed?" He muttered as he lifted his head up slightly and gave her the biggest puppy eyes he could.

She simply rolled her eyes and forced a smile to her lips, not able to hide the underlining worry that her gaze held.

"Sure, but if my Dad finds you in here he'll flip." She said as she shoved his shoulder lightly while a light chuckle slipped passed his lips.

"Thanks Val."

"No problem." She said gently as she gave his head a few pets before she got back up.

She gave him his space as he buried his head into his arms once more while she sat down at her desk in order to continue working on her problems. For awhile Danny listened to the sound of her pencil scratching at the cheap paper while his eyes seemed to grow heavier and his breath slowed and deepened until he was lightly snoring and drifting off into dream world.

In his sleep though he didn't notice Val stop in the middle of a problem as she frowned and looked towards him with her brows drawn together and her eyes filled with trouble for her friend.

(Ghost!)

"My dear boy, may I come in?"

Danny halted his pencil in the mid of answering another question he hadn't gotten to last night with a heavy sigh. Placing the object down he threw one arm over the back of his chair and tilted his head towards his door.

"Can I stop you?" He asked, the deep chuckle from the other side giving him enough of an answer.

A moment later and Vlad stepped into his room, softly closing the door behind himself.

"I thought you said that you were doing your homework last night?" He said while Danny frowned at his attempt to start a lighthearted conversation. He was still steaming from their ambush last night.

"Just had a few more to finish up before school." He muttered, turning his back on the man as he went back to what he was doing. "You're not changing my mind." He finished writing in the last few answers before he snapped the book shut and shoved it in his bag.

"I wouldn't think of it child." Vlad said, moving over to the boy's bed and taking a seat on the corner of it.

Danny bit down on the inside of his cheek at being called a child, but he knew better than to call the other out on it. After all it didn't matter how old he got, that was the way that Vlad was always going to see him, just like his mother would always see him as her baby boy.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were prepared in case anything were to go wrong."

"I'm not turning Nights in." Danny stated, standing up and tossing his bag next to his door. "I don't care what my Mom says. She can't make me hand him over to Walker."

Vlad stayed silent, eyeing the boy as Danny stared back. He was no doubt going through a list of points in his mind over what he could say to make Danny understand their point, but Danny already knew every single one of them, and he knew that he could defend himself well against whatever Vlad had to throw at him.

"Just to be clear Danny, it's just the one ghost that you refuse to catch?"

Except for that.

Quirking a brow at that Danny opened his mouth, a sound coming out that could have been the starting of an argument but didn't make it very far pass a single noise.

"What?"

Vlad gave a smile to the younger male, turning his palms upwards as he continued. "I'm just asking. It's just this one ghost, this 'Nights' fellow, that you refuse to catch. Am I wrong?"

His brows furrowed together as he lightly crossed his arms, leaning back against his chair with a frown set over his face.

"Uncle Vlad I..."

"It's a yes or no question Daniel." His tone had gone sharp, and any of the warmth in his eyes had been snuffed. He was being serious right now and Danny knew that there wasn't going to be any way that he could worm his way out of this situation

There was no way that he could say no. If he said no than they would have him removed from hunting altogether. He would be seen as a threat, as a liability. He couldn't help Nights get out of trouble if he was being watched by them. He couldn't help other ghosts get away if he was stuck at home being retaught everything. His mother already thought he was going mad. He didn't know just how much further he could push until she was going to sit him down and force feed him all of her information again until he couldn't do anything but believe every word that she said.

"Yes."

The smile that crawled over Vlad's face didn't sit right. Danny had seen him smile plenty of times before, he was a very happy and content man after all and it took a lot to anger him, but he'd never seen it like this before. There was just something so...off about it. It was twisted and dark and sent goosebumps up his arms and set off an ache in his shoulders that just made him want to squirm. He'd never, ever experienced anything like this feeling before with the old time family friend, and to see it now made all sorts of warning bells go off in Danny's mind.

But this was Vlad. Danny had known him for years and the man had never once bee a threat to anyone in his family. There was no reason for Danny to believe that he would start to be so now. So just why was he feeling so off about this all of a sudden?

"Well, if that's your choice than I suppose that it's better than nothing. As long as you're keeping up at least part of your job." Vlad said, rocking himself to his feet and bringing himself to stand before the boy. "Be that as it may however I do want you to keep on your toes about this ghost. And I want you to have this."

Danny didn't make a move for the object that was held out to him, but he could feel his breath catch in his throat at the sight of what was being offered.

It was an old weapon, one that must have had quite a few years on it by now. In their ghost hunting 'association' Maddie, Danny, and Vlad were always upgrading their weapons. They didn't own anything in their arsenal that was more than a year old at the most. This was mostly due to the fact that nearly everything they used was broken at some point in time in a fight, but also since they were constantly adding new and useful ideas to the older versions. It was odd to see something so old, something so beaten up that should have been replaced a long time ago resting snugly in the hands of one of the few people that was smart enough to build a whole new one in a matter of minutes.

The object was shaped like a small rectangle, big enough to fit in the palm of Vlad's hand with no problem. It wasn't anything more than an inch thick, with rounded corners, giving it a more oval like appearance. The paint over it was a dull grey, chipped enough to spy the shine of the hard metal underneath. On one end of it were two sharp pieces of metal that curled towards each other without touching, reminding Danny of pincers. In the middle of the device sat about five buttons, four of them forming a circle and the last one in the very centre.

Danny knew what it was, and he knew just what it had been used for. He knew what Vlad was getting at, what point he was making as he held it out and waited for Danny to take a hold of it.

"I won't need it." The words were forced passed gritted teeth, Danny couldn't even muster up the control he knew he needed in order to pretend to be touched by the offering.

"I know you won't." Vlad cooed, reaching out and grabbing the wrist of one of Danny's crossed arms, forcing the boy to surrender his hand to him as he pressed the object against the flat of his palm. "Let's just say that this is more for my peace of mind."

The object felt heavy in his hand, and he could have sworn that the cool kiss of it against his palm burned like a small flame. It felt wrong, it sent an oddly poisonous feeling all the way up his arm and almost seemed to spread from there. He knew that it was all in his mind. He knew that there was nothing wrong with the device, but he also knew what it had been used for.

"Now if it...I'm sorry, he does become violent for any reason, I want you to use this."

Taking in a deep breath Danny finally tore his gaze away from the item and back towards the other man.

"Vlad I can't..."

"Think nothing of it dear boy." Vlad grinned, placing a hand on Danny's shoulder in good faith. "I'm just glad that you like it so much."

Danny didn't like. He hated it, and he knew that Vlad knew that. He knew that the man was just playing with him now. Pretending that Danny was about to start thanking him. In truth Danny couldn't even stand to hold the thing. There was nothing that he wanted to do more than to throw it across the room and out the window. He could see where Vlad was going with this stupid gift. He could see just what the other was trying to say with no words.

After all, this had been the very same weapon that Vlad had used on the first ghost he'd ever found that had been in love with a human.

"Just in case anything goes wrong."

The smile that curled at the corners of his lips made Danny's stomach roll unpleasantly. He couldn't read Vlad's mind or anything, but he had no idea that the ideas that were floating in there were nothing that he wanted to see anyways. Pressing his lips into a thin line he held back a winch when the old hunter patted his shoulder and made his way out of his room.

He didn't bother to close the door behind him, but Danny ignored that detail. Turning back to his desk he ripped open one of the drawers and tossed it into the back of it. Slamming it shut with a loud crack he didn't realize that he was shaking until his body froze in place from pure rage.

It was weird. He'd never been on the receiving end of Vlad's mental games before. That had always been what he would use on particularly tricky ghosts. He knew that he didn't like it however and right at the moment he wanted nothing more than to scream out his frustration and break something. He knew he couldn't though. He was already on thin ice. He didn't need to be adding cracks.

But still...that gift...

Danny could still remember, he could still remember all of those years ago when Vlad had come to them. He had been so excited, going on about what an interesting find he'd managed to catch. He could remember him raving about how he'd found a ghost with such heightened emotional awareness that it had fallen in love with a human while he sat at the man's feet at the tender age of eight. He'd never been allowed to see the ghost, Vlad's research was to far away apparently, but he could still remember Vlad's face when he'd stopped by on one of his visits, telling them that the ghost had faded.

Danny had believed his mother when she had said that Vlad was to far to visit, but now he couldn't help wonder if the truth was that she didn't want him to see just what kind of testing they had done to that poor girl.

He'd never thought very hard about it before, he'd never really cared, but recalling the memories now he came to a sudden and horrifying realization. They had been running tests on her, they had her locked up doing who knows what, for four years. Four years filled with nothing but pain and suffering. That's what they wanted to put Nights through. That's what they wanted Danny to do to him. That's what Danny himself had wanted to do to him just a few short months ago.

How long would Nights last if they got him? How long would he call out for help before he would just give up? Danny didn't even want to think about it, and yet, now that the idea was there, it seeped into his mind and spread.

Now maybe he wasn't in love with Nights, but he definitely liked him, and that was enough for him. But how was he supposed to keep the people that he cared about happy if they were both on opposite sides?

"Gotta catch them all cause he's Danny Fenton."

Jumping at the sound of the sing song voice Danny swirled around until he'd managed to come face to face with the smirking male that had been polluting his thoughts since the moment that he saw him.

"Nights?"

He didn't know how, but he'd almost forgotten about the boy's very annoying habit to break into his home. While normally he didn't mind he couldn't have Nights here right now. Not when everyone that he knew was out for his blood.

"The one and only!" Nights grinned, oblivious to Danny's mood as he threw his hands out to the side as if he was some type of showman. "I thought you'd like to be walked to school by your tru..."

Danny didn't let him finish, not before he'd snatched the boy by the upper arm and yanked him back over to the window.

"Hey Hunter! What giv...!?"

"You have to get out of here Nights." Danny hissed, clamping his hand over the others mouth to make sure that he couldn't alert anyone else of his presence. "Now."

Nights pried his hand away gently and even just that small action had Danny's heart taring. Just how could anyone think that he was going to kill anyone? Why did they want to hurt him so badly?

"Whoa, wait a second Danny, what's..."

Once again Danny interrupted him, but this time he shut the boy up with his mouth rather than his hand. Nights appeared to like this method a lot more, only tensing for a moment before he all but melted against Danny. He had no idea why he'd suddenly thought that kissing his supposed enemy while in his home was a good idea, but with all the thoughts running around in his mind he couldn't help but want to feel Nights against him, if only to convince himself that the ghost was okay and that he was still there.

As he shoved him against the wall Nights only let out the slightest of muffled yelps, but it was greedily swallowed up by Danny as he bit down on the others bottom lip. He couldn't help but smirk at the small whine he got when he slid his tongue into the others mouth, soon enough turning into a nearly silent moan as he smoothly worked his way under Nights' shirt to place the tips of his fingers over very warm skin. He couldn't help that his smirk grew with the way the muscles under his hands flexed and the way that Nights clung to him, almost as if he thought that Danny was going to disappear. It was just to cute with how he was pressing into him, unashamed of how much he wanted to be closer to the hunter.

Danny couldn't help but realize that Nights just felt to human. He couldn't be a ghost. Ghosts felt like ice. Clod and dead to the touch. Cold enough to feel as if they left a burn whenever they touched him. Nights was cold, but there was a warmth to him, especially his mouth, that Danny enjoyed. He couldn't let them hurt him. He wouldn't let them hurt him. He'd show them that Nights was different, that he didn't mean them harm. He'd show them that not all ghost were evil, after all they had been people at some point, and although some people were pure evil and stayed that way even in the after life, there were good ones, and they could change, dead or not.

Pulling back he allowed his eyes to close for a moment as he rested their foreheads together, the feel of the others panted breath softly caressing his cheeks making his heart flutter in his chest. Slowly opening his eyes he gave the boy a quick peck before he took a step back, pulling up the others hands and lacing their fingers together.

"You have to go Nights, but wait for me at the park alright?"

Instead of answering Nights simply nodded, his mouth slightly agape and his eyes glazed over in shock, not really looking at Danny but not really looking anywhere else either.

Danny chuckled softly, somewhat proud that he could shake the cocky spirit up so easily.

"I'll see you in a few okay Nights?" He repeated as he softly kissed the boy's forehead before he shoved him out the window.

Danny knew that he would be okay, after all ghosts could fly, but that didn't stop his heart from stopping for a moment before Nights could be seen frowning at him from outside, just a few inches away from his window. With a small smile he quickly slid the window shut and waved to the other. He knew full well that if Nights wanted to, he could just faze right through the glass, but he was making his message clear.

To his credit, Nights didn't bother trying to get back in. Instead he just winked before flying off to the park, his fists pumping the air in what Danny could only describe as victory.

Feeling better Danny turned back to his desk and felt every cell in his body freeze, at the sight of the person standing in his doorway.

"Jazz..."

"We need to talk. Now."


	20. Chapter 20

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 20

"Take a seat."

Danny could tell that he was in for it the moment that he stepped into his sister's room. When the door clicked shut behind him he could have sworn that the sound echoed in the emptiness of the four walls.

Swallowing down his nerves Danny's eyes darted over to the small couch that his sister kept in her room. There had been plenty of times when he had walked by Jazz's room before, seeing all sorts of kids sitting on that same couch. It was a weird, indescribable feeling to know that he would now by joining the many that had laid there before him. He wasn't to sure about how he felt about being his sisters latest brain to pick, but in the same breath he knew that it would have only been a matter of time before she would have pieced everything together. She was a genies after all.

Still, he could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he obsessed over just what thoughts were swirling around her head. He didn't want to hear from his own flesh and blood just how disgusted they were with him. He'd never thought that any of them were going to find out just what kind of relationship he had with Nights until much later. Sure Vlad had been giving him some pretty clear signals that he knew what was going on by giving him the very same weapon he used on another ghost that had been in love with a human, but he could have also just being showing how much he disapproved of Danny being close friends with a ghost.

But Jazz knew.

How could he have been such an idiot? On what planet was it a good idea to make out with your supposed enemy in your own home base? He even knew that his door had been open, or at the very least he subconsciously knew. Vlad hadn't closed it after all, and it's not like he was being very quiet. If the bang from him shoving Nights into the wall hadn't drawn his sister over than at the very least it had been the sounds that the boy was making. He should have kept him quieter. Oh well, it was just going to have to be something that they worked on. If he managed to ever get away from his sister without having a strict watch team on his ass.

"This won't take long."

Normally Danny found comfort in listening to his sister's voice. She was always the one who remained reasonable whenever him and their mother got into spats over ghost related issues, and when Maddie took things a little to far, Jazz was always the one who could talk some sense into her. Hearing the eerily calm tone now however sent a chill up his spine and allowed goosebumps to break out over his arms. She was far to calm for this situation, and if Danny knew anything about his sister it was that the more she was freaking out on the inside the calmer she became on the outside.

Turning to face her Danny couldn't help but tapped his hand against his leg as the nerves twisted his stomach. "Jazz could we maybe do this later? I have to go to school in a..."

"This won't take long." She said, her voice keeping its eerie calm as she made a motion to the couch. "Please, take a seat Danny."

Well, he wasn't going to be able to weasel his way out of this one, and there was no way he could deny her simple request anymore without her building up a whole case as to why. With a long sigh Danny submitted his defeat and took a seat on the surprisingly plush cushions. Placing his elbows on his knees he let his hands hang limply before him. He couldn't even lift his gaze to look at her face. He just knew what he was going to see if he did and facing that right now would just about kill him. He'd suffered broken bones, nasty burns, and had countless scars thanks to a lot of stitch work over the years, but he knew for a fact that there was no worse pain that someone could go through than mental, and if he saw the clear disgust and disappointment across her face he just knew it would hurt worse than any of those things put together.

"So Danny..."

Was she going to tell their mom? Was she going to tell Vlad? Was she going to tell him how disgusting he was? What a shame he was to their family? Was she going to say that he needed mental help and force him to go to an asylum? Would she say that he needed medication to dumb down his sense, make him nothing more than a vegetable, all in order to 'heal' him properly? Danny didn't feel broken. He didn't feel as if his mental state had been compromised. The only problem he was having was that he also didn't know what to say to her that would make that seem clear. People did not kiss ghosts. They didn't entertain the ideas to date them, and they certainty didn't help keep them out of trouble when their only job was to hunt them down.

He didn't realize how tense he was getting until he could feel a hand on his shoulder. The sudden action made his head snap up to face the source regardless of the fact that he knew that it was his sister and that he didn't really want to face her at the moment. What he'd expected to see when he locked his gaze with her was nothing of what he got. She didn't seem angry, or ashamed, or disgusted. She looked confused, and sad, and...worried.

"You've screwed up big little brother."

Her words left a lump in his throat that was hard to swallow. He wanted to apologize, for everything, but the words were stuck in his mouth and even if he did he knew that he could never mean it. He wasn't sorry for starting to like Nights, that was made very clear, but at the same time he didn't know how he could be selfish enough to put his family through this once they all found out. And they were going to.

Jazz finally lowered her hand, placing it in the small space between them but not dropping her gaze.

"What happened?"

"Jazz I..." Anything he thought he had to say after that died on the tip of his tongue. He didn't know what to tell her. He didn't know what she wanted to hear. If he said the wrong words would her emotions change? Would her mind change? Would she call up Maddie and tell her what was going on? She held all of the cards here. Danny was left with nothing. Swimming in unknown territories and unable to answer even the simplest of questions.

Snapping his head back to face the door of the room, his only escape route that felt much to far away, Danny found his jaw clinking shut.

Just how did one tell someone that somewhere along the way their morals had changed from what they had originally been brought up to believe? How did you disagree with something that you had been raised on to someone who had been raised the same way and never strayed?

"Just," Jazz mumbled, reaching out to grasp one of his sweaty hands with her own, "start from the beginning."

That was easier said than done. Where was the beginning? Just when had all of this shifted? Which time was it that his mind had changed so suddenly? Danny had no idea, but he did know one thing. This was all because of Nights.

If he'd never met the ghost none of this would be happening. He would have continued to live his life as he always had. He wouldn't have second thoughts or mixed feelings about his work. He would have continued to hunt down ghosts and run his tests just liked he'd been trained to do since he could walk. It was who he was and what he did. He would have continued to be that person if it hadn't been for a certain meddling spector.

So Danny decided to start there.

He told her everything. About their first meeting, about the times afterwards, about the times that Maddie didn't know about, about his own questions and the little moments they shared when there was no one else around to play for. He told her with a heat face and a hammering heart just who had been the one to shift their relationship to what it was now. He had no idea how she would take the truth that it had been him. He had no idea how she would take any of this. Once he started however he found that he couldn't stop. All of it came out, everything he'd been trying to hide from everyone was laid out before her like a picture book. He didn't know just what she was planning on doing with this information once she got it, and this had to be the worse coarse of action in the world, but finally having someone listen to what he was going through turned out to be to much of a tempting offer to listen to the smarter parts of his head telling him to keep his mouth shut.

After he was finished the two sat in silence so thick that he could feel it pressing against him from all sides. He couldn't look at Jazz. Not after everything he'd admitted to. If he'd thought it had been hard to stare her in the face before it was nothing compared to spilling his guts and than waiting to hear what her diagnosis was. His stomach was twisted in so many knots that he almost wanted to hurl, and his heart was beating so hard against his rib cage he was shocked that it didn't break out and run away from this mess that he'd gotten himself involved in.

"So," It was the only word that had been spoken in the last few minutes, but her tone was so well disguised that Danny had no idea how to tell what was going to follow, "and this is because I'm still confused, just how did you go from hunting a ghost...to dating one?"

"We're not dating!" The protest was so loud that he bit down on his tongue, his eyes darting over to the door as if the sudden outburst would bring both Vlad and his mother into the room. "We're not dating." He repeated, this time much lower, his hands sliding up so that they could clench around the fabric of his jeans. "I swear we're not-I just...I don't know-it's-it's complicated. I still fight ghosts Jazz." He mumbled, finally swallowing down his fear so that he could glance at his sister out of the corner of his eye. "But Nights is-he's...damnit!" Danny hissed and his hands suddenly flew up to fist into his hair while he curled in on himself. "I don't know. He's just-he's just different okay? He's just so human."

"No Danny, he was human." Jazz corrected as she placed a hand on his shoulder. While he normally wouldn't have a problem with that her touch almost hurt, as if it was physically burning him. When he jerked himself away from her she simply sighed before continuing. "He's not human anymore. This...whatever it is, it's not going to work in the long run. You've got to know that."

"Jazz please..."

"I mean he's dead Danny. His physical body is no longer here. He's nothing but a shadow of what he once was. This is borderline necrophilia." Any calm that she had been holding on to was slowly slipping away into histarics, her voice coming out quicker and higher with each word.

"Jazz stop..."

"He's dead. He's a ghost. If this goes on what's to stop him from killing you? If he's in love with you why would he want you to continue living when he could just kill you right now and have you forever?"

Jazz please stop. I don't..."

"What were you thinking Danny!?"

"I wasn't thinking!"

If he'd thought his first outburst had been loud it was nothing compared to this. His yell nearly shook the walls, and even with the window closed he could see a bird in a nearby tree take flight from the startle. He didn't even realize that he'd stood up and turned on his sister until he was wondering just when he'd gotten into position to be able to see out her window. The anger that had been clouding his mind dimmed as he blinked down at the wide eyes of his sister.

She look positively shocked. Her mouth open and her body tense, as if she didn't know if he was going to take a strike at her or if he was about to have a mental break down. There was no way he would ever hurt her though. He would never lay a hand on his sister. The mental break down on the other hand was a very real possibility. Taking a deep breath he pinched at the space between his eyes and slowly let the air out.

"I wasn't thinking Jazz." He mumbled quietly, as if he was afraid that using anything louder would spook her. "I know he's dead. I get that. But I just...he doesn't seem it to me." He didn't know if he was allowed to sit back on the couch or not, so he opted for standing awkwardly in front of her, giving a small wave of his hands as if that would help sort out his words. "I don't see a ghost when I'm with Nights. I see a cocky kid who's just trying to do the right thing the only way that he knows how. He's so much more than a spirit or an enemy, and I can't change that no matter how much I could try to."

He knew that to anyone else, Nights was dead. It just went without saying, he was a ghost after all, and to anyone else it was no doubt super taboo but, it was just...Nights didn't feel dead. He was so lively, he was fun and always laughing. There was just something so-solid, about the guy. Danny didn't want anything like what they did to ghosts to be done to Nights. For the first time in his life he was finally seeing just what 'ghost fading' really was. He didn't want Nights to fade. He didn't want his family to flat out murder him. Strangely he'd never seen what they did as murder, but that's just what it was. People could say what they wanted about the spirits that roamed, but once they were gone they were gone. Besides, it wasn't Nights fault that he was a ghost, and so what if he was dead?Why should that have stopped them from being together? It's not like he was making out with a rotten corpse. Nights didn't just sit there wasting away, hell, technically he wasn't even a body, just a spirit. There wasn't anything wrong with what he was doing because if Nights wanted him to stop than he could say so. He could tell Danny to hit the road for all he knew, a cadaver would just sit there, void of anything that made it human.

Danny nearly hurled at the thought. Slapping a hand over his mouth he had to seal his eyes shut as he wiped the very idea of it from his mind. If that's what everyone else saw than he could understand why they were so disgusted and upset, but it wasn't that way at all. In away it seemed that Nights was more human than they were, because really, what were empty bodies after their souls had left? They defiantly weren't all that human anymore. Than again maybe he was just over thinking it.

"Jazz... I know it seems really wrong, but...I really..." Danny trailed off as his gaze fell back to the plush carpet of her floor. His words seemed to be stuck in his throat as he uncrossed his arms not sure when he had crossed them in the first place. "I just-I think that I really like Nights."

His eyes burned as he rubbed at them roughly with the back of his hands. He didn't want to cry in front of her, but he didn't want to see the look on her face either. If anyone found out about this he was screwed. He would lose everything, his family, his friends, Nights. They would send him off somewhere and never speak his name again without the accompaniment of disgust added to their tone at the very least. Not only that but than someone would catch Nights and he would fade away at their hands and Danny wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He didn't want to lose anyone, but there was no way that he was going to be able to get out of this without any scratches.

"Danny," Jazz sighed getting to her feet as she wrapped an arm tightly around his shoulders and pulled him in close while petting his head with her free hand, "I don't understand what you're going through right now." She admitted as he sniffled slightly, still refusing to meet her gaze. "I'm just worried." She mumbled, pulling back just enough to cup his face in between both of her hands and forced him to look at her. "Nights is dead, and from the looks of it, he likes you. I just... what happens when you start to grow up even more? The idea of you getting older while he's stuck at the age he's at might frustrate him. Or what happens if he decides that he doesn't want to wait around for you to die anymore and he..."

He kills you.

The last words weren't spoken, but they didn't need to be.

"I don't want to lose you little brother."

Would Nights kill him? As a ghost he could have killed people before, especially as a ghost who protected other ghosts, but would he? If Nights wanted to be with him, would he kill Danny to be able to do so? Would he be able to be with him if he was human? Could a relationship between them even work? He'd been trying to figure out thee questions for so long but oddly enough he'd never really thought about what Jazz was talking about. He'd never thought of Nights as a threat in that kind of way before.

"I know I can't stop you from doing what you're going to do Danny, but," Jazz trailed off as she dropped her hands back to her side and slid her gaze away, "but if he does anything to try and hurt you or threaten you than I will lock you up and I will get Mom, Vlad, and Walker to handle him." She said as she brought her sharp gaze back up to meet with his, the pure truth that laid behind the words enough to make his heart stop. "Do you understand?"

Giving a nod of his head Danny gave a final wipe to his eyes, trying to get rid of as much evidence as he could before running a hand through his hair.

"You won't tell anyone about this, will you?"

He waited to hear her answer for the longest time. The seconds ticked by slowly as his heart beat faster and faster in his chest.

"No."

Letting out a long sigh of relief Danny shook his head and was out the door in a matter of mere seconds.

(***)

Danny couldn't wipe the stupidly large smile off his face if he slapped himself. As it was now he was already bouncing on the balls of his feet, his gaze barely able to keep away from the place that he knew Fenton would be coming from for more than two seconds. He knew that he had a lot of other things to worry about, Vlad was apparently in town after all and he was going to have to start making up some battle plans, but maybe that's why he was so excited by this little walk to school. It was something that he could look forward to before all of the shit was going to hit the fan.

But wait a second. If he was hanging out with Fenton, what if Vlad saw him? What if he decided to use Fenton against him somehow? What if being around the boy was going to place a target on his back? Could he really do that to the young hunter? Vlad had to know that he wasn't going to go easily. What if he thought that his best option would be to use the people that Danny cared about against him? He already knew where he lived, it wouldn't be to much of a stretch to find out about just who Danny associated with.

The smile that had taken up refuge on his face fell as the harsh cold reality settled in. This had been a very stupid idea. He was putting both Fenton and Valerie at risk just by being around them. He knew how Vlad worked, he'd had four years spent with no one but that monster to see day in and day out. Vlad wouldn't care that Fenton was a fellow hunter, and he certainly wouldn't care that Val was just a civilian. If it meant getting what he wanted he would do anything. Nothing was below this guy. The idea of him getting his hands on either of the two was a much scarier thought than anything that Vlad could do to him.

Taking in a deep breath Danny allowed his eyes to slid closed. He had found out a long time ago that his brain didn't function very well when he panicked, and if he wanted to think of a way to help his friends than he was going to need a level head. Letting out the breath threw his mouth he gave himself another moment to gather his thoughts before he opened his eyes again, his body much less tense than it had been just a few seconds ago.

Nothing was happening at this moment. At least nothing that he knew about, and if Vlad hadn't shown himself in person just yet than that could only mean that he was planning something. The only thing that Danny could do was sit and wait. Just jumping in blind was going to lead to nothing but trouble. He might have been young, but he was far from stupid.

"Hello? Earth to Danny."

Jumping at the sound of his name he couldn't believe that he had zoned out so much that he hadn't realized that someone had walked up to him. He felt his heart jump in his throat when he realized that he was still waltzing around as 'Nights' and yet someone had recognized him. Seeing that it was just Valerie however he imminently relaxed. He'd appeared to her as 'Danny' tons of times when he'd looked like 'Nights'. Now that he was thinking about it he really should have been keeping a lower profile. It was a miracle that no one had caught a picture of him yet since he was causing their beloved hunters so much work. The last thing he needed right now was for someone like Val, or worse yet, his Dad, to recognize him in the news or something.

Pulling back his hood Danny forced a smile to his lips as he brought his attention to his best friend.

"Sorry Val, I was a little spaced."

"You don't say?" She mumbled, arching a brow and placing a hand on her hip. "Everything okay? I mean you left without me this morning and you were acting really weird last night..."

Even though she trailed off Danny didn't need her to finish. He knew just what she was talking about. He still couldn't believe that he'd gone to her last night but she was the only person he could turn to. Even if he couldn't tell her what was going on it had still lifted a huge amount of fear off of his shoulders to just be near someone he trusted.

"I'm just..." Danny shrugged his shoulders, the action giving him a little more time to get his thoughts together, "going through some stuff right now." It wasn't a straight out lie, but it was the closest thing that he could give to her.

"Are you..?"

"I'm walking with my crush to school this morning!"

He winched at his choice of words. Jeez he must have sounded like a middle schooler, but it did its part to distract her from his odd behaviour and lightened the mood just enough to ease the tension.

The smile was back on her lips as a sly look overcame her face.

"Oh really?"

"Uh, y-ya." Did he just stutter? What the hell? Since when did that ever happen? "I, um, stopped by his house this morning and asked if he wanted to walk to school together and he said yes, so I'm just waiting for him here." Well that wasn't entirely true, but it was pretty close.

When Val pinched her lips together however he felt his heart jump as he wondered just what part of his story had she not believed.

"If you were already at his house than why did you come all the way out here? Why not just walked from his place to school together?"

Wow. How had he missed a detail that big? Thinking quickly, and trying to think of something that might be close to the truth, Danny racked his brain for the first thing he could think of.

"His parents don't approve of me."

Well that was an understatement. Fenton's Mom was no doubt just dreaming up new ways to dissect him and to make him suffer. If she found out just what kind of relationship that her son had with her most hated enemy...Danny shivered just thinking about it.

"Oh." Val exclaimed, her shock showing clear on her face as her green eyes went wide. "Why not?"

"Well, you know," Danny chuckled, his gaze shifting around as his hands reached up to clench at the missing straps of his bag. He'd forgotten he left it at home so as to not make Fenton ask questions about why he had one in the first place. "She doesn't think I'm a very good influence on him. I've kind of...been changing his views on a few things."

Whelp, vague it might have been, but it wasn't like he could really give to much more away. To her credit Valerie seemed to understand just how awkward this conversation was becoming for him and thankfully seemed to back down a little.

"Okay." When her gaze shifted from Danny to something behind him Danny felt a wave of panic wash over him at what she could have possibly been staring at. "Hm, looks like Fenton takes this way to school too."

Letting out a squeak of surprise, Danny shoved his friend away from their approaching classmate and quickly ripped his hood back on.

"Go, go, go!" He hissed quietly, continuously pushing against her as she struggled to stay in place.

"Wait! Fenton!? Fenton's the guy that you've..?"

"Yes!" Danny snapped, interrupting her as he finally managed to push her out of view. "Yes it's Fenton but don't tell him that...um, that you know. Nobody's supposed to know okay? It's a secret."

"But Danny he's..."

"Valerie please."

Whatever she had been planning to say next was lost at the look of pure desperation that fell over his face. He was begging her not to say a word. To stay quiet about what she had seen. He didn't want her to ruin this accidentally by saying something that would make whatever it was the the two shared crumble in his hands. Even though he didn't quite know just what it was that they had, Danny knew that it was very fragile, and a single wrong move would break it.

"Please Val, don't tell anyone."

For a split moment he thought she would. She looked torn on what to do, and he found himself holding his breath as he waited for her decision. Finally however she let out a long breath, reaching out and grabbing his hands in both of her's.

"Fine. I won't say anything." She assured him, and the biggest smile he could ever hope to muster nearly split his face in half.

"Thank you so..."

"But Danny." She interrupted, taking away one of her hands so she could point at him with a single finger. "If he does anything to hurt you, and I mean anything, I'm going to kill him. Alright?"

Chuckling at her threat Danny gave a nod of his head. While he was sure that Valerie could hold her own if she ever got into a fight with Fenton, he highly doubted that she would be able to keep up with him. Fenton spent his nights hunting ghosts and had spent years training to push his body to the limit. While Val could give him a bit of a fight there was no way that she would be able to beat him in the long run. He just had way to much experience over her. But it was still a sweet gestures nonetheless.

"Thanks Valerie."

Wrapping her up in a quick hug Danny pulled back and finished sliding his hood into place.

"Go get him tiger."

Feeling a blush creep up his cheeks at her enthusiasm Danny tried to laugh it off as he made a shooing motion with his hand and stepped back into Fenton's view.

(***)

When Danny had met Nights for the first time, he'd never thought that the cocky little prick would lead to so much trouble. Even with the knowledge that he had now however there was something nagging in the back of his mind, telling him that in the end, it was all going to be worth it.

Now he wasn't stupid, he knew that sometimes no matter how badly someone wanted something, there were times where no matter how hard you tried, it was never going to happen. Regardless of the fact that he knew what the outcome would be for his actions, he couldn't imagine ignoring what was going on between them. He didn't want to live for the rest of his life wondering 'what if?'

Still, once his Mom found out and Vlad found out, he wasn't going to be able to hide their relationship forever, he just knew that it was going to end badly.

Giving a long sigh at his luck of being born into a ghost hunting family and liking a ghost Danny could feel his shoulders drop as he lifted a hand to rub at his eyes lids.

At some point, probably sooner than he would be comfortable with, he was going to have to deal with the consequences of his actions. That didn't mean that he wasn't going to try dodging it and tiptoeing around it for as long as he could though. He just wanted to have fun for a little bit longer. He just wanted everything to go back to normal, or at least as normal as it could be for someone in his position. He didn't see anything wrong with that. It might not have been the most mature coarse of action, but he was sick of always having to think ten steps ahead. For once in his life he just wanted to go in blind and see what the outcome would be. Still, that wasn't going to be much of an option. There were plans that were going to have to be made. Things were going to have to be set into place. There wasn't going to be a way that he would be able to get out of this unscratched, although that wasn't going to stop him from trying his hardest to get out of the situation without a mark.

"You know you really should stop zoning out in public. It makes it way to easy to sneak up on you."

Danny jumped when an arm wrapped around his shoulders and a solid body pressed up against his side as if it belonged there.

"Nights?"

Turning to look at the ghost he found himself shocked at what he saw. He didn't know if Nights had done it on purpose or maybe he just hadn't noticed, but whatever he was doing to darken his hood wasn't working to its full extent. He could see that Nights was grinning, but he could see the entire bottom half of his face. While everything above his nose was still covered in shadow, everything below that was completely exposed as clear as day. Danny felt any words he could have said getting stuck in his throat at the sight of the lightly tanned coloured skin and strong jawline. He'd never seen a ghost with that kind of skin tone before. All of them were either blue or green, occasionally they came in other colours as well, but never in any living human ones. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew the one to his side was a ghost Danny would have sworn that he was alive.

"You told me to wait here so I did!" Nights exclaimed, moving his arm from Danny's shoulders to place them in the pockets of his jacket.

Danny couldn't help the small smile that slid over his face or the sudden sadness over the lost contact with the other.

"I did, didn't I?" He said while Nights nodded his head, kicking off the ground so that he could hover a few inches in the air. "This isn't going to interrupt your day or anything is it?" He suddenly asked as the question popped to the front of his mind before he could give it much thought.

While he didn't know just what ghosts got up to all day, he would have felt bad if he had bothered any plans that the other made. A feeling of relief washed over him however when in response Nights snickered at his question.

"Nope." The boy said, flipping himself around so that he was staring at Danny upside down. "Trust me, around this time, I'm pretty bored out of my mind."

When he laughed again Danny just found himself smiling awkwardly. He felt like there was a joke there that he just didn't get. Shrugging it off as a ghost thing he turned his attention back to his walk to school.

Oddly enough Nights didn't seem to mind his silence and Danny found himself thankful for that as he thought back to what his sister had said. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe he should tell Nights about the questions that she brought up. Maybe even ask him if anything that she had wondered about held any kind of foreshadowing to it. Something told him that if he did ask, he wasn't going to like the outcome. After all, he didn't want Nights to think that he didn't trust him, and asking the ghost if he was going to murder him at some point might have seemed like a paranoid and untrusting question. Also he couldn't help but wonder if Nights would even answer the question. While he was sure it would be offensive, so he'd already piss him off right off the bat, would Nights really give him a clear answer or would he just twist around words and choke him with it?

As they drew closer to the school Danny found himself shocked when Nights dropped himself back to his side and continued their journey on foot. He'd assumed that once the building was in sight Nights would just disappear and take off to do whatever is was that he did when Danny wasn't around, but he seemed fully intent to walk Danny right up to the building.

They closer they got the more that Danny found his gaze shifting over to the ghost at his side. Nights was just humming, the smile on his face obvious in the early morning light. He didn't pester Danny into talking, he seemed contempt being around him. How could someone made so happy by something so simple be of any threat to them? Sure he got in the way of their job a lot and could be a major pain in the ass for it, but Nights was just a big softy if he wasn't threatened. If there was anything that Danny could wish for at this one moment in time it would be that they could all just sit down and talk it all through.

But he knew his Mother, and he knew Vlad and Sam. Even if Nights was interested in trying to explain his side of the story, no one would listen to him. They'd see Nights as a ghost, nothing more. He would be something wrong, something to study and throw away. Looking at the happily humming male next to him Danny could no longer see what he use to when he looked at ghosts. He knew that just a few months ago he would have been on their side, seeing ghosts the way that they did, but he couldn't do it anymore.

Looking around the school grounds quickly Danny made sure that no one saw him snatch up Nights wrist and pull him to the side. Dragging him to the back he didn't stop until he was in a place where he knew that no one could see them. When he was satisfied with the place he picked out he finally let the boy go and bit down on his bottom lip over the thoughts that were flooding into his mind. Shuffling his feet he didn't really know what he was doing, or just why he had dragged the other back here. He just wasn't use to being this...well, just being like this. These feelings seemed to come somewhat hand in hand with Nights and whether he liked it or not he still had no idea.

"Going to confess your undying love for me yet?" Night snickered as Danny raised his head and glared up sharply at him.

That seemed to cut off the ghost's laughter quickly as he frowned and leaned in slightly closer.

"Hey? You okay?"

Instead of answering though Danny quickly closed the gap between them and softly placed his lips against the others.

This one wasn't heavy, there was no tongue or movement, just a little bit of presser, but it felt good. It felt warm, and comforting, and alive. Danny carefully tilted his head to the side as he gave the boy another peck followed by another until Nights was pulled into the movements and their lips finally locked. Danny reached for the belt loops of Nights pants and pulled him close as he bit at the others bottom lip before sliding his tongue into his mouth and gently coaxing the other even more into it. Rubbing his thumbs into the v line of the others hips he pulled away from Nights mouth, giving him one last gentle peck before he turned his attention to the boy's neck. He couldn't really get to the side of his throat with his hood in the way so Danny moved down to the front of his throat, gently biting and sucking at the boy's neck while Nights panted sweetly into his ear.

He couldn't help but love how easy it was to make the normally cocky ghost squirm and the cute sounds he was making rather than his normal noise of smugness made Danny grin as he felt Nights' strong arms wrap around his shoulders and pull him in closer. He always wondered why Nights never bothered trying this stuff on him even though he flirted way more, but than he figured had the ghost tried the dark haired teen would have pulled away.

Sliding his hands around to the others back he ran his hands upwards, taking the jacket and shirt up with him as he shifted up just the slightest and pulled Nights in even closer while giving a particularly sharp nip to his neck. Something between a squeak and a moan slipped passed the ghost's lips before he bit down on his bottom one to keep quiet. Danny pulled back from the spot he had been abusing,giving the red mark that would soon be a hickey an apologizing lick before he brought his lips up once more time to meet with Nights'.

He allowed his eyes to slip closed as he rested their foreheads together and just breathed in the scent that was Nights.

"You know, either I did something right, or lady luck loves me. Two mind blowing kisses in one day." Nights snickered breathlessly while Danny simply chuckled at him.

The sound of the bell cut through the air and Danny nearly growled at it as he held Nights a little closer. He didn't want to go right now. He just wanted to stay here with Nights and forget everything else that was going on. Sadly though, and with a sigh, he pulled back a bit and loosened his hold.

"I've got to get to class." He mumbled while Nights simply shrugged.

"I know." He chuckled as he dropped his arms from around the other and crossed them lightly over his chest.

Frowning at the hollow sounding chuckle Danny drew the others attention back to his face as he placed a hand under his chin and forced their eyes to meet.

"If I don't see you later, would you like to meet up on Wednesday? We could hangout at the park or something. My Mom's starting to notice that your coming around."

The smile that lit up the others face second later pulled at Danny's heart deeply, making him smile in return. He'd seen all sorts of smiles on Nights, but most of them were sharp and a little cruel. This one was just so open and childish. As if he was truly excited and overjoyed at the idea of Danny proposing a time for them to see each other again.

"Okay, ya sure." He agreed, giving a quick nod of his head while Danny took his turn to chuckle.

"It's a date than." He grinned, quickly swooping in and placing a quick peck on the others cheek before he could respond.

Nights just seemed to stand there in shock for a moment and Danny used that to his advantage as he turned on his heels and quickly left. He had no idea what was wrong with him lately, but he couldn't really say that he wasn't liking it. Sure he'd been trying to get Nights to back off in that kind of way for awhile but now he could see why the ghost liked to tease him so much. It was really a lot of fun.


	21. Chapter 21

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 21

Danny couldn't keep the scowl off of his lips or the incredibly dark blush from his face as he made his way down the busy hall, his hand clamped firmly over a certain place on his throat.

Once he had been sure that Fenton was well out of his sight he'd abandoned his jacket and walked back towards the front of the school in a relatively good mood. That had been shatter the moment that he'd run into Valarie right outside the doors. She took one look at him, and laughed in his face. If that wasn't bad enough it had taken her awhile to calm down and to tell him just what was so funny and by than they had already been in the school walking to his locker. She didn't have time to tell him that there was a giant hickey on the front of his neck until about half of the school population had seen it.

Even though he knew that pretty much everyone knew at this point, he still keep his hand firmly in place as if hiding it from sight would make them all forget. Val still stood to his side, still snickering behind her hand and earning herself a death glare from her best friend as they marched into their classroom together. Taking their seats in the middle row he finally let out a long groan and dropped his head on the desk, giving a small whine as other students started to file in a few minutes before the second bell.

It's not that he hadn't enjoyed what Fenton had done, or that he'd thought it wasn't hot at all because it really, really was and he wished that the other hadn't stopped-but why-of all places!-did it have to be the front of his neck! He'd tried to ask Valarie if he could borrow her make up, but she only said that they didn't share the same skin tone and it would make the place stick out more. When he'd tried to go ask Star, one of the popular girls he was getting to know thanks to his association with Dash and Kwan, she'd only said that she didn't share her makeup because that was gross. Than Val had suggested asking Sam, saying that their skin tones matched up pretty well, but from the smirk over her face he knew that she was just teasing him.

There was no way in hell that Sam would ever do something like that if she found out just who had given him the mark. In fact it might be more believable for her to kill him instead.

He could already imagine the conversation...

Even in his mind the outcome made him shiver.

"You seem like you're in an awfully good mood today dude."

Picking out Tucker's voice over the rest of the students was easy to do, and Danny couldn't help but tune into their conversation as he peeked at the group behind him with his head still down. The infamous outcast trio was just making their way into the classroom, taking their seats in the back as was the norm while everyone continued on with their own conversations.

"What makes you say that?"

Danny couldn't help the small growl that scratched at the inside of his throat at the nervous chuckle that the other gave. Sure, now he was nervous and shy. Where had that attitude been when he was nearly grinding into 'Nights' and marking him up as his own? Giving a small scoff he carefully kept his attention on the small group.

"You've been smiling like an idiot since you got in this morning." Sam muttered, her tone oddly dark and her gaze not able to meet Fenton's while she pulled her books from her spider shaped backpack.

There was something off about that subtle look that her dark haired friend shot her that made Danny quirk a brow. Had something happened between those two in the last little bit? Normally Sam couldn't keep her eyes off of her hunting pal, but now it was as if it was hard for her just to be around him. That was just a little strange. It also might be something that Danny figured that he could bring up to Fenton the next time they spoke. The last thing he wanted was to be driving a wedge between the boy and his friends. It already had to be hard on him having a ghost hunting crazed mother who wasn't going to be to happy about his recent choices.

"It's nothing." Fenton said quickly, his face a light shade of red as he flipped open his own books.

Danny couldn't help but allow his own gaze to shift from the boy to the girl and back again at the looks that they were stealing when the other was looking. Obviously there was something going on there. He had no idea what it was, but he could still feel his stomach twist and his lips twitch into a snarl. A moment later and he snapped his mouth shut, trying to tone down his sudden jealousy as he shifted in his seat.

Technically him and Fenton weren't dating, and technically he hadn't really seen anything happen between either Fenton or Sam. Her attraction to her friend was obvious though, and if Danny wasn't so happy about how oblivious the other was he would have hit him over the head with a sign that said, 'Sam likes you!' until he understood.

He couldn't even find it in himself to even be that mad at Sam. He couldn't imagine how it would feel to be pining over someone for so long and to get nothing in return. It almost made him feel a little guilty...

"You sure?" Tucker asked, his question drawing Danny's attention back while he continued to type away on his PDA.

"Yup." Fenton put in quickly as he nodded his head a little to fast before he flinched when Sam shot him a look that completely called his bullshit.

Unable to help himself Danny sat up and turned slightly in his seat and loudly cleared his throat. He might not have been evil, but like he wasn't going to take a shot when one was set up for him oh so perfectly. Besides, he was still a little bit pissed at the other for leaving a mark and not having the mind to warn him about it. Sure Fenton didn't know that he went to school, and thankfully because of his ghost abilities he would be able to heal quicker so the mark would hopefully be gone in a few more minutes, but he was going to be petty about it until than.

His throat clearing did the trick to gather the trios attention, drawing all of their eyes to him as he smirked back at them.

"Sorry for butting in but maybe you should ask him who I saw him kissing by the side of the school this morning." He grinned sending them a quick wink while Fenton's face paled and both Tucker's and Sam's mouths fell open.

"What! Danny!" They both yelled as they tuned on him faster than a pack of hungry dogs.

The dark haired male shot him a glare so hard that he was sure the boy was trying to see if he could make his skin melt off his bones. Danny on the other hand grinned to himself as he waved at the boy for a moment before he remembered he was supposed to keep his hand over his throat. Quickly moving it back in place and hoping that Fenton didn't notice he couldn't stop the smile from forming on his lips as he turned to the front of the class while even more people filed in.

Pay back was sweet.

(***)

Danny continued to glare at the back of Phantom's head as the class continued on. He couldn't believe that he had been outed so quickly, and that it had been by Phantom of all people. Man, if he hadn't disliked that guy before he definitely did now. How had Phantom even known about that? Danny had made sure to drag Nights somewhere that no one could see so that they wouldn't be caught. There weren't any windows or doors that Phantom could have been hiding behind or looking out of, but he supposed there had been a dumpster nearby. It made sense if Phantom had been hiding behind it. Why he would have been doing that Danny had no idea but it was still a possibility. The guy was a weirdo, there was no doubt about that, he was sure that there were millions of things that he couldn't even think of that Phantom could have been doing back there.

Why would he just out right tell Danny's friends though? Danny had been caught red handed kissing another guy on school property. While that wasn't as unheard of as he was making it seem the location that he picked would have been enough of a dead giveaway of how he felt about the whole situation. It wasn't even the fact that Nights was a guy that he was trying to hide, it was the fact that he was a ghost. Maybe he was giving Phantom to much credit though. Maybe the guy just wasn't smart enough to see it as a blackmail opportunity and could only see the much simpler option of embarrassing him instead.

The new guy was just weird. That was something that Danny had known from the moment that he'd laid eyes on him, but there was just something about him that seemed so familiar that it nagged at the back of Danny's mind whenever he saw the guy. There was just something in the way that he would smirk and the sound of the smugness in his voice that made Danny's head spin. It was so close to something, but he could never put his finger on what. Sure Danny never really spoke to him, but somehow it seemed that Phantom was always around. Even in the brief glances that they shared on the rare occasion he could almost swear by the smile that Phantom would give him that there was something the white haired teen knew that he didn't.

Did Phantom know that he was the hunter? Did he know what he did at night? Did he really know about Nights? Was Danny underestimating him? Was he just saving up all of his information for later? Was him calling Danny out just a way to show him just what he could do? Phantom had drawn along with his sketch. His home was Nights place of haunting. Just what had he seen since he moved to this town?

A dull burn against his face was what eventually broke him out of his thoughts, only to realize that Phantom was staring right back at him. His gaze narrowed sharply and he could feel himself bristle when Phantom smirked at him. When Phantom winked at him Danny could feel his lips pull back to form a snarl, warning the guy without disrupting the class to knock it off. His reaction only seemed to encourage Phantom even more however as he continued on, sending Danny kissey faces and making his face light up bright red.

Picking up his eraser Danny whipped it at the other. It missed him, the last thing he wanted was to be sent to the principals office for taking out someones eye, but Phantom snapped back up in his seat anyways, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter as a hand was brought up out of Danny's line of view, no doubt to cover his mouth.

With a roll of his eyes Danny was just about ready to start paying attention to his class once more, but than Phantom leaned back again. This time he tilted his chair up on two legs, his head tilting back and staring at Danny upside down. His own eraser was in his hand and his smirk was firmly planted over his face, a mischievous glint in his eyes. However Danny didn't notice it for long, because something else caught his attention.

The mark was small, but it was still noticeable. It was a small oval, red and almost angry looking, but there was no way it could be anything else.

The eraser bounced off his head, landing on his desk with a sudden smack against the paper that broke him from his thoughts. Still staring at the boy who was now tilting his head with playful curiosity on his face Danny felt his mind come to a grinding halt. Even his pencil slipped out of his fingers, rolling across his desk as his mouth slipped open.

It couldn't be possible. There was no way...

But the mark was in the same place.

Sure he knew that Phantom was a hit with the girls at school, it wouldn't be surprising if he'd managed to find someone to date in secret, but for that many coincidences to be piled up in the same place all with the same person...

Thinking back to the first time he'd ever met Phantom he could recall that the boy had maybe caught a brief glimpse of their blueprints for ghost trackers. Shortly after Nights had shown up out of no where and started destroying them. When he'd been drawing in art class Phantom had made up his own sketches, adding details to the characters that no one else knew about. Now maybe he'd seen them when they'd been in his house that one time but why would Nights choose to haunt there, a place that had never before held ghost activity, and how ironic was it that Phantom not only lived in the same building, but in the same apartment?

Phantom couldn't have been Nights though. It just...he just...just couldn't accept it. Nights was dead, he was a ghost. He flew around annoying hunters and freeing other ghosts, undoing years of hard work by Danny and his team. Phantom was...well Danny didn't really know, but from what he'd managed to gather of the guy he was just some typical, rebel student that everyone was falling over themselves for, and he was definitely human.

Actually...now that he was thinking about, did Nights and Phantom not seem..?

"Danny!"

The dark haired male jumped so violently that his knees smoked the top of his desk, making a noisy rattle while everyone's attention turned to him. Some of the students tucked away their cell phones, Danny caught Val hiding hers while Tucker easily slid his PDA into his front pocket.

"Since your thoughts seem more interesting than the class would you care to share them?" Mr. Lancer questioned as he raised a single brow, waiting for the answer as the boy felt his face grow hot once more.

"Um..."

"Well I didn't have a very good sleep last night. I had this horrible dream that you were chasing me around wearing a bright pink dress and riding on the back of some yellow coloured bore yelling something about doing unfinished homework and..."

"What are you going on about!" The teacher snapped when the one to answer his question wasn't Danny, but Phantom.

"Well you asked me if I wanted to share something with the class, I didn't think I did but it felt really good to get it off of my chest." The white haired male smirked as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his stomach. "You sure you don't want to hear the rest?"

"I think it should go without saying that I wasn't talking to you." The man fumed as Phantom simply put up an innocent looking frown that just oozed smugness.

"But how am I supposed to know that when we're both named Danny?" He asked with a tilt of his head as the class snickered.

"You're right. I guess it was to much for me to hope that you actually possessed a brain in that head of yours."

The whole class burst into laughter as Phantom pulled a face of mock hurt before shaking his head and putting his hands up in surrender, a small smile on his face as he admitted to his defeat.

"You win this round Lancer." He tasked as the rest of the class settled down some while Danny sunk back in his seat.

At least the attention was off of him for now...

"Alright class, now that we are done with this tomfoolery, let us get back to work."

Turning his attention back to Phantom as the rest of the class went on he found himself wondering if maybe they were the same person.

There was no way they could be though. When he thought about it, no matter how similar they were it just wasn't possible.

Thinking back to the weapon he had shoved to the back of his drawer at home Danny chewed on the end of his pencil in thought. The ghost that Vlad had managed to catch was so interesting because it had falling in love with a human, something almost completely unheard of if it wasn't for Nights' case as well. What if the human had loved her back though? What if they had some how managed to have a child together? Could they even do that? Would it even work? He'd never really given it that much thought before but what if it could? What if she got pregnant and had a child? Was she pregnant when Vlad had her? Had she died giving birth? Would that make the child about four years old right now if there was one? Did Vlad maybe catch the child and mother together? Was it possible that Phantom could have been that child?

Was that even possible? What if Phantom really was Nights? What if he was the offspring of a human father and a ghost mother? That would make Phantom half human and half ghost. A halfa. A weird hybrid. A freak of nature by all means.

It would make him the ultimate prize for any researcher.

It could explain why Nights never gave his name and never showed his face. He didn't want anyone to know who he was because he had to live two different lives. Like how Danny wore a mask when he worked so that people didn't know that he was a hunter on the side.

God. Everything was making so much sense now.

The new wave of information was like a title wave crashing on him out of nowhere. It left his head spinning and his stomach rolling. It's not like he really had solid proof. Just a bunch of conspiracies that he was throwing together, but the fact that they made more sense together than how they had been appearing on their own was so startling it was like a shock to his brain. There was one thing for certain though...

He needed to talk to Phantom.

Now that he was thinking about it, if Phantom and Nights did turn out to be the same person, Danny was going to have to beat his head off of the wall. The guys very name was 'Phantom'. If that wasn't a clear clue he didn't know what else was.

The more he tried to solidify some resemblance of a conversation in his head, the slower the last few minutes of class dragged on. By now he'd completely blocked out whatever it was that Lancer was trying to teach, his eyes glued to the clock at the front of the class while the end of his pencil bounched rhythmically against his paper. He could tell that he was starting to annoy both Sam and Tucker, but he didn't pay it much mind as he slowly watched the last minute of class tick away.

When the bell finally rung in what felt like an hour later, Danny was quick to shoot out of his seat and to beeline his way over to Phantom.

"We need to talk."

The boy wasn't even out of his seat, but that didn't stop Danny from grabbing a hold of his upper arm and yanking him out of his chair. Oddly enough, other than a startled yelp at the suddenness of his appearance, Phantom didn't say much, allowing himself to be dragged out. Neither of them caught the confused looks on their friends faces, or the look that Val and Tuck shot each other as Danny dragged him out into the busy hallway.

Heading to a classroom that he knew was always unlocked and empty Danny shoved the other in with little care, quickly locking the door behind himself once he entered. There was no way that either of them were leaving here until he had some answers. If it turned out that Phantom really was Nights he... well he didn't really know what he would do. Maybe he hadn't thought this out to well...

"Um, I didn't think you'd be that pissed about me outing you to your friends there Fenton. Sorry." Phantom muttered, seeming oddly at ease with the situation as he leaned against the teachers desk with his arms crossed.

Scowling at him Danny moved a little closer, hoping to see something that would reminded him of Nights. Or maybe he was hoping that their wouldn't be any similarities at all. He was still swimming around in unknown territory here.

"Cut the crap Phantom." He mumbled, bringing himself close enough to peer at the others throat.

He found his gaze narrowing at the completely unmarked skin. That didn't make any sense, he knew that he saw something there during class. He hadn't been picturing it. If it really had been there though and was gone now however that could have only meant that the mark how somehow healed. It wasn't possible for a human to heal that fast. A ghost on the other hand...

"Or should I say Nights?"

For just a moment he could see a flash of panic cross over the others eyes before the other quickly reached out for him. Danny jumped at the hand that tightly wrapped around his own arm but found he couldn't turn his gaze away from the screaming green eyes that were locked with his own.

"You've seen him too?"

"Uh, what?"

His mind couldn't come up with anything better than that as any idea that he had fled from his mind. What was Phantom going on about?

Watching the other as he let out a long sigh and pushed his hair from his face with slightly shaking hands Danny was rendered speechless as Phantom dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Sorry I just, when I was born I was supposed to have a twin but he didn't make it. We're apparently identical twins though and his ghost has been following me around for as long as I can remember. Generally other people don't notice him much, he doesn't really appear dead so he blends right in and when he's not he spends most of his time invisible but..." Phantom trailed off, his gaze shifting over to the window as Danny found himself stunned into silence. "I didn't really want to move here. I was worried that the hunters would get him. Dead or not he's still my brother and I want to keep him safe."

Danny felt frozen in place when bright green eyes turned back to him, filled with so much fear it almost made him choke.

"Please, I don't see him much anymore since he's out a lot now, but, tell him to be careful, and don't tell the hunters. I don't want him to get caught or hurt. I don't know what they do with them after they have them, but I can't imagine that it's anything good." Phantom pleaded, trying to build up a case for his dead brother that left Danny speechless. "He's a good guy I swear. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. Please don't rat him out."

"I won't." Danny didn't even realize that he'd said the words until they made a bright smile bloom over Phantom's face. He was never going to turn Nights over anyways, but it he couldn't really say that without giving away the fact that he was a hunter himself.

"Thank you."

He wasn't ready for the arms that wrapped around him seconds later, embracing him in a strong hug. Something about it sent a familiar thrill up Danny's spine, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as Phantom pulled back and blinded him once again with his bright smile.

"I owe you one man."

He made no move to stop the other as Phantom moved passed him quickly and unlocked the door before making his way out. Danny couldn't find it in himself to move as he just stood there, his mind running a mile a minute while he just stared blankly ahead into nothing. What on earth had just happened?

(***)

"You alright Danny?"

Pulling his mind from the mess of food he was murdering with his fork, Danny blinked at his friend across the cafeteria table. Valarie didn't repeat her question, choosing instead to quirk up a single brow as she took a sip from her drink.

"Um, yeah." No, he was lying. He really wasn't okay. "Why?" Dropping his attention back down to the mush of green and orange that use to be carrots and broccoli at some point he tried to shake himself out of his own head.

"Well," Val shrugged as she stirred the straw in her cup for a moment before moving her hand to her fork to scoop up some chicken salad, "you just seem a little...off since yesterday." She confirmed, bring up how he had slept in her room last night with no explanation and no further prying. "And you were late this morning for class."

Nodding his head in agreement to everything she had said Danny let out a long sigh a he popped some of the mushy mess into his mouth.

He couldn't just out right tell her that there was some mad scientist out there who was tormenting him and might cause her or Fenton harm, and he couldn't tell her what had happened after first class. God, his heart was still hammering in his chest over having almost been found out, his hands were still shaking. He was just glad that he'd managed to slip away before Danny realized that some things just didn't quiet add up in his story. He was also extremely glad that he'd played that one video game that had given him the idea in the first place.

Really it shouldn't have been to shocking that Fenton managed to figure it out. He wasn't an idiot by any means but Phantom might have been being a little bit to obvious. It was about time that he toned down his interactions with the other a little bit when he was posing as Phantom. Now all he had to do was play along as Nights and it should be enough to keep Fenton confused and busy for a little while. There was no doubt in his mind though that Fenton was going to find out at some point. He just hoped that the other would be okay with it when he did, and that once he did he wouldn't completely lose his shit on Danny.

Than there was part two of his problem.

Vlad.

He should have kept to himself. He should have never decided it was a good idea to go around saving the ghost of Amity Park from their hunters. Even if he wasn't in media attention, the attention that he'd been calling to the hunters with their lack of catch and than lack of ghosts had no doubt drawn Vlad's attention there in the first place. The guy was nothing but meticulous when it came down to hunting his prey, and if Danny wasn't his favourite game than he didn't know who was.

He could still hear Vlad cooing at him. Praising him as his ultimate prize. The seventh wonder of the world. His missing link. Danny had been running from him for years, but it didn't seem to matter. Really he knew that it would only be a matter of time before he was found. He just couldn't believe that he was stupid enough to make such close friends that could get caught in the crossfire.

He didn't want to tell her about the whole Vlad thing. He couldn't. Not only would it out him for what he was, but if Val didn't abandon him after that he had no doubt that she would refuse to leave his side until the monster was dealt with. She was a headstrong girl, and if she made her choice than there was no way that Danny could change her mind about it. So he just wasn't going to give her one at all.

Still, he needed something that would explain his mood a little bit. Something way more cheery than real life. Something that could explain his spaced out behaviour.

Dropping his plastic fork to his plate with a nearly silent ting, he brought his gaze up to meet with her's. "So, you know about Fenton?"

The mention of the other boy's name certainly did its part to get her attention as she rested her chin on the back of her hand and leaned forward.

"Well, before I left his house, and than once we got here, he kissed me."

He'd been expecting to have to force a smile onto his face in order to fool her. Much to his surprise however he found that he didn't need any faking, the corners of his mouth pulled upwards all on their own at just the thought of the events that had happened just a few hours prior.

"Really?" She said as she rested her arms across the table before her, her lips soon pulling back to form a wide smirk. "Details."

He simply chuckled at her while he shook his head and took a big swing of his water.

"No way." He scoffed while she rolled her eyes, her smile never once leaving her face.

"Aw, why not?" She murmured before shooting him a wink. "Not a good kisser?"

Danny just allowed a somewhat shy smile to grace his face as he ducked his head, noticing Fenton and his friends passing by their table for a moment as he bit down on his bottom lip.

His gaze caught Fenton's as he passed by, and he played his sudden shyness off by giving the other a small wave. Hopefully the hunter was just thinking that he was trying to be friendly thanks to knowing about his 'brother'. It seemed to work however as Fenton gave him a quick, strained smile back before turning back to his friends.

"He's actually really good, threw me a little off guard to be honest." He said, glad that bringing this up had completely distracted her from anything more depressing.

Like the fact that a madman he'd been running from for a good few years had somehow found him again.

Thinking back on that smashed Danny's good mood into a million pieces as he reached for his drink once more, now abandoning his food since the very look of it alone was enough to make his stomach turn. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He had no idea what would happen if he saw Vlad again, and he wasn't to fond of the idea of finding out either.

"Why would that throw you off guard?"

Looking up from his cup once more he stared at Val somewhat stupidly for a moment, completely forgetting about the conversation they were having just two seconds ago as he raised a single brow.

"What?"

"Why would you be thrown off guard over the fact that he's a good kisser?" Val repeated with a small tilt of her head before she leaned back in her seat. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah." He lied as he took another sip of water. "I couldn't be better."

Their table was quiet once more before he'd remembered that she had asked him a question and not answering it was probably only adding to the defence against him being alright.

"Well, he just seems to be such a prude but than it's like he just completely changes sometimes. It's kind of, well you know, hot for a less better way to put it."

"Phantom, you're blushing." Val pointed out, a strong smirk on her face as he blinked at her. His eyed wide at the accusation.

Danny Phantom never blushed, over anything.

"I am not." He muttered, nearly under his breath while she simply snickered at him.

"Alright, whatever you say."

"Anyways," He carried on with a very obvious roll of his eyes, "I've also got a date this Wednesday."

"Really?" Val said, a small grin on her face as she took another forkful of food. "What are you guys going to be doing?"

"Hm, I don't really know." Danny said as his brow furrowed while he tried to think.

Just what did Fenton have planed?

Shrugging it off he stirred the ice around in his drink. "But I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun."

"Well if your calendar isn't to filled up I was wondering if you wanted to hangout on Wednesday too? It wouldn't be until later at night though, much later."

Tilting his head to the side in question Danny plopped his chin in his hand as he rose a single brow.

"What are we going to be doing late at night?"

"You'll just have to show up and see won't you?" Val grinned as she poked at her food with her fork, a slight smirk on her face. "Don't let me rush your date or anything though." She added, turning her full attention to her food while Danny allowed himself a small chuckle.


	22. Chapter 22

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 22

The room was mostly dark. The only light that managed to filter though was the dull glow of a red light that spilled from the small bedside lamp on the nightstand. Even with the minimal lighting however the picture in her hands was as clear as day as she stared down at it. Her grip on the edges were so tight that it crinkled in the corners, distorting some of the image but leaving the three smiling teens alone.

She could still remember when they had all taken this picture. They had asked Jazz to take it for them and she had happily obliged. It was the moment when Sam knew that they were all going to be friends forever, the kind that stuck together though thick and thin. It was the moment when she realized just how much she liked her best friend. It was the moment when she realized that she was in love with Danny Fenton.

A scowl tugged at her lips, the gloss covered paper starting to shake in her hands until a small tare caused her to break out of her trance. Her frown deepened as she took in that the rip was between her and Danny, further separating them in the photo just as they had become in real life.

It didn't make any sense. Things had been going so well. For years the three of them had been side by side hunting down ghosts, a clear path of their future ahead and their minds made up in their place in the world.

And than it came along.

Everything had been perfect until that stupid spector had shown up in their lives. Until it had started twisting Danny's poor mind until the guy was so confused that he was actually starting to believe that ghosts could be like good people.

Sam knew better. She could see right through that thing whether it was intangible or not. She knew how ghosts work. She knew the kind of lies that they told. She knew that regardless of what they said they were all going to snap one day and lash out at the ones that they supposedly would swear up and down that they would never hurt. That was why she had to help Danny. That was why she had to show him the error in his ways. If she could just talk to him, get him to see things they way that they were supposed to be again, she could fix him. She could save him.

Letting out a long sigh she dropped the picture to rest beside her and scooped up her laptop.

If she wanted to help Danny she was going to need some more information on how to do so. Apparently fighting the thing wasn't working. It would just keep coming back no matter how many times she hit it and it was to smart and quick for her to catch. Not only that but something was telling her that even if she did manage to catch it, Danny would set it free again and make it seem like some freak accident. They would all know better of course but they couldn't really do much if he denied it. Her only hope was that someone else out there might have run into a similar situation. That maybe someone else out there had run into a problem where a ghost was getting a little to friendly.

Her hand clamped over her mouth as her stomach lurched and she gagged.

She'd never thought that what ever it was between the two would ever get to the point where it was...god she couldn't even think about it. The very idea just made her stomach twist and she could almost feel her dinner sliding back up her throat. It was just beyond gross. It was appalling. There was no other way to put it. She hadn't wanted to believe it but with what Phantom had told them and the way that Danny had reacted to it she could see now that it was true. Danny wasn't just letting that thing run around because it was a little different and he found that interesting. He actually 'like liked' the thing.

Shuttering in her disgust she quickly banished the thought from her mind and turned back to the task at hand. Opening her internet browser she typed in the question to her search engine.

At first she spent a few hours scrolling past pages of useless information, none of them giving her anything to work with on her current situation until she clicked on the link and was surprised to see Danny's Uncle Vlad smiling on the screen. While it didn't say anything about him researching a ghost with the type of emotional awareness that she was thinking of, it did make her thoughts a little bit clearer.

She had known Vlad ever since she had started hunting at Danny's side a few years ago. She'd always thought that there was a little something off with him and he did send off some creepo vibs, but he was close with Danny and he was an amazing researcher. Perhaps it wouldn't be to much of a bad idea to go in with him on this. After all, he had to be just as concerned for the boy who he saw as a son as she did. He probably wasn't even aware of all of the facts of Danny's relationship with that thing, and as his friend was it not within her rights to steer him off of the path that was no doubt going to lead to his own destruction?

Snapping the lid of her laptop closed she hopped off of her bed and snatched her thick jacket off of the back of her chair.

If she was right than Danny and Maddie would be out hunting right now. They didn't have to know that she had stopped by to talk to Vlad and they certainty didn't have to know about what they had talked about.

With her mind made up Sam walked out of her room and down the quiet hallways of her house until she was outside in the bitter, late evening weather.

She had some plans to make, a man to talk to, and a friend to save.

(***)

"Don't tell me that you missed that one as well."

Danny couldn't stop himself from winching at the tone in his mother's voice. He knew that she was on to him, after all this was his fourth ghost tonight that he had 'missed' and they both knew that there was no way that he was such a bad shot. As much as Danny wanted to tell himself that he really was missing them on purpose, it would only really be half true. Really his mind was a little to occupied with all of the events of earlier today to be able to think about much of what he was doing right now. He wasn't even able to put up much of a believable front for his mother.

"Sorry." He mumbled, lower his gun back to his side as he raised his free hand up to rub at his forehead. "I, I guess I'm just not feeling all that well right now."

Really he wasn't lying. Knowing that Jazz knew, and now both Sam and Tucker knew and that apparently Phantom was Nights' living twin or something...it was a lot to be loaded onto one day. Not only that but the more he thought about what Phantom had told him the more he was starting to realize that there was some things that the guy had said that just didn't add up.

The more that he pondered over his short conversation with Phantom over and over again in his mind the more he was starting to wonder about some big holes that his mirror image had done nothing to explain. If Phantom was Nights though, and he was starting to believe that, that was more and more of a real possibility, why would he lie to Danny about it?

While it was true that Danny wasn't particularly fond of Phantom, that didn't mean that he hated him by all means. In fact now that he was thinking about it the only reason he'd barely given Phantom a second thought since the starting of the school year was that they never really spoke to one another. Danny had his school group and Phantom had his. There was no reason for them to talk let along get to know one another. Nights on the other hand had just forced himself into Danny's life outside of school becoming an annoying pain in his ass in his work until they eventually found themselves in a whole new type of relationship.

Could it maybe be that Nights was just trying to keep that up? Did he not think that Danny would like him anymore if he found out that he was Phantom? If he even was that is. Than again maybe Phantom was really telling the truth, maybe Nights was his twin brother that died at birth and now chose to stay but his side but...that story just seemed so off...

Danny was literately shaken out of his thoughts as a pair of small, but strong hands grabbed his shoulders and gave him a bit of a rough shake. Blinking back into the moment he looked up at his Mom's masked covered face while she placed the back of her hand against his cheek with a frown pulled over her lips.

"You're not catching anything are you Sweetie?"

Although he knew that she was still mad at him he was glad to see that at the heart of it she was still his mother and was still worried about his health. Giving her a sheepish smile he gave a small nod of his head, his nonverbal reassurance doing nothing to melt the frown over her face.

"I'm fine." He assured her as she pulled her hands back and crossed them over her chest.

"I think that you should go home Honey." She said, his smile slipping off as his mouth fell open to protest. "You've been having a...rough go of things lately, and if your minds not here than there's no reason for you to be."

Mouth snapping shut at that Danny found that there was nothing that he could say in protest. She was right after all, and they both knew just how dangerous it could be to hunt when your mind just wasn't there. Sam had nearly shot him once due to an argument that she couldn't get out of her head with Paulina, and even Danny's own mother had actually blown up a small section of the mall once a few years ago after receiving a call from an old friend that she refused to elaborate more on.

Besides, he had a feeling that she also just wanted him out of the way so that she could get some real work done. Sam had called it off tonight which Danny hadn't been to shocked to hear about, but it left them one person short. With Danny letting go most of their targets it was also putting them further behind and at this point they both knew that she was bound to get more work done on her own than with Danny by her side. Not that he was going to let go some of the ghosts he thought were innocent later though.

"Okay." He'd really been hoping that he could maybe try and see if he could find Nights tonight. Talk to him about his brother or something and see what he thought about it while poking and prodding for holes in his story, and he'd also been hoping to distract his mother from the teen ghost some more. The last thing that he wanted was for Nights to be out here with his Mother who now knew that her son's whole opinion of what they did had been changed thanks to one spector. He had a feeling that the next time Nights went up against Maddie she wasn't going to hold back in order to study him for later. But now, like Sam, she was no doubt just going to go all out try and wipe him off the face of the earth. "I'll see you when you get home than."

She gave him nothing more than a sharp nod before she took off in the direction of their last victim for the night. With a long sigh Danny slipped his gun back into his holster and than started on his way home. Deciding that he'd rather get there sooner than later he started jogging, wondering just what he was going to do once he did get there. He supposed maybe he could go over more of his homework or something, or...

"~Done for the night?~"

Tucker's voice was a welcoming distraction as it floated out of the com.

"Ya. Mom's sending me home since I seem unable to concentrate." He mumbled, turning down the next corner.

"~Makes sense, I mean according to tonight's updates you guys haven't caught a single one.~" Tucker hummed, but there was something in the way that he was trying to seem nonchalant that set Danny's nerves on edge. "~So...~"

"Don't." Danny warned, his tone sharp as a blush already started to burn across his cheeks.

"~Aw come on Danny!~" Tuck groaned no doubt pouting at the information that he knew his hunting friend was holding back. "~You've got to tell me. That guy that Phantom was talking about was Nights wasn't it?~"

Choking on thin air Danny gave a low growl, wishing that Tucker was here in person so that he could give him a slap upside the head.

When Phantom had ratted him out to his two closet friends at school he'd been pissed. He knew that they weren't stupid. He knew that they would figure out just who it was that he'd been making out with behind the school, and he'd been terrified of what they were going to have to say about it. Thankfully they hadn't said much, choosing to ignore it after their initial shock had worn off but Danny didn't know which would have been worse. Sam flat out refused to look at him after that, and when Danny could feel the burn of her stare on the side of his face she would turn away before he had a chance to meet her gaze. When she did speak to him it was short, clipped almost, as if she was using everything that she had just to muster up that much. Tucker on the other hand had just carried on like normal, or at least Danny was sure that that's what he was going for. Danny could almost feel the pressure on his head the whole day from his darker skinned friend's unasked questions pressing against his temples and worming into his brain. He knew that there was a large amount of questions that they both had, but while Sam seemed contempt enough to come up with her own answers Tucker was apparently using the alone time that he had now to finally pounce.

What would he do if they never wanted to speak to him again? What was he going to do if he lost two of the best friends that he'd ever had? He never wanted them to find out this way, he'd never really wanted them to find out at all. While Jazz had been...somewhat okay with it he supposed, she was also his sister and there was a certain amount of despicable things that he guessed he was allowed to get away with because of that title. His friends on the other hand had no reason to stick by his side if they thought that he was no longer worth it. There was nothing keeping them there if they thought that Danny was to repulsive and low to be around anymore.

"~Danny?~"

When he tried to open his mouth to respond he found that the words were stopped by a large lump in his throat. Trying to clear it out he gave a harsh cough before abandoning the idea all together and simply giving a small grunt to let Tuck know that he had his attention.

"~You know I don't mind right?~"

He didn't actually. He figured that Tucker was only playing around with the idea. He figured that his friend was in denial about the whole thing. That Tucker thought it was funny to make fun of but once he could see that it wasn't a joke he'd turn tail and run. The relief that flood him after the confirmation was like being hit by a tidal wave, one that Danny didn't realize could steady his breathing and slow down his racing heart as he came to a stop.

Choosing to just walk the rest of the way, he was almost home anyways, he gave a quick look around to make sure that no one else was wandering the streets at two thirty in the morning.

"Thanks Tuck."

"~No problem dude.~" Tucker said, his voice sounding just as relieved as Danny felt. "~To be honest I was kind of hoping that you two would get together.~"

"We're not dating." Danny quickly put in, biting on his bottom lip as he thought about it. "Or at least, I don't think that we are."

"~But there's definitely and interest there right?~" Tucker said, his words loaded with a smirk that Danny couldn't see but didn't doubt was across the others face. "~You guys flirt so much though, I'm surprised that it's taken you this long.~"

Letting out a long groan of embarrassment Danny brought a hand to slap against his forehead and drag down his face.

"Can we not talk about this please?"

While he was overjoyed that this wasn't going to ruin his friendship with at least one of his best friends, the last thing that he wanted to do was continue talking about it. The whole thing was already embarrassing enough. Danny wasn't big on public displays of affection, and he'd really rather not talk about his infatuation and big time crush that he was holding for a certain enemy he was supposed to hate.

Tucker's laugh filtered through his ear piece, the sound tugging at the corners of Danny's lips until he too was smiling.

"~Alright dude, but just know that I'm so going to bug you later about it.~"

"Fair enough." Danny agreed turning the last corner and allowing his smile to slowly fall once more at the sight of his childhood home looming brightly in the darkness.

"~Just one more question though.~" Tucker pressed, all of his earlier easiness from before nowhere to be found as Danny found his gaze subconsciously moving up to the window of the room that he knew that Tucker was in. "~What are you going to do about...you know, being a hunter and being in a family full of hunters?~"

Rather than continue towards his home Danny turned until he could drop himself against the brick wall that was now behind him.

"I'm..." He had no idea. He didn't know what he was doing. He was just playing it by ear, flying by the seat of his pants, leaping without looking. God he had no idea what he was doing. Sadly that feeling didn't seem to be such a foreign one anymore. "I'm not sure yet." He admitted, bringing up his hand to rub at the nap of his neck in hopes that it would help sooth some of his nerves.

"~Okay. Just so you know, if you need any help I'm right here dude.~"

Smiling up at the sky Danny couldn't help the warmth that spread though his chest at his friends support.

"Thanks Tuck..."

"~Oh shit!~"

Startled by his sudden yelp Danny pushed himself off of the wall and snapped his attention back towards his house. He didn't see anything around it that could have startled the other, so why did Tucker suddenly sound so panicked?

"~Uh, I meant great! That's great to hear Ms. Fenton.~"

Danny could already feel any of the comfort from before being dashed against the rocks as he waited for Tucker to tell him what was really going on. What his mother had really done.

"~Danny, Nights is going to need your help! Right now! Your Mom's apparently wounded him really badly."

Not for the first time was he thankful that the only one who could connect them all together was whoever was at the base because if he could chose to talk to his mom he was sure he would have some choice words to say.

"Where." He was shocked by the amount of livid rage he managed to get in just that one word alone, but the sudden coiling in his stomach and the slight shaking of his limbs was enough to let him know just how beyond pissed he was.

"~Down by the docks somewhere. Danny don't...~"

Ripping the device out of his ear Danny shoved it deeply into his pocket and than took off. The last thing that he wanted was for Tucker to tell him to not do something stupid. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like hearing the 'I told you so' when his choice blew up in his face.


	23. Chapter 23

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 23

Nights pressed his hand against his mouth to stop the whimper of pain from tumbling out. He'd managed to hide, to drag himself to a safe place for now, but he had no idea just how long he had until he was found. After all, his blood was glowing a dull green in the darkness of the warehouse he'd held himself up in, it was bound to be noticed by a professional hunter in the dark. Hell, it was bound to be noticed by a total idiot in the dark.

Lifting his hand, that until now had been pressed firmly over his side, he took a glance down at the wound.

When he'd first seen Maddie he'd thought that their encounter would have been like any other time. He'd thought that he would just annoy her a little, distract her enough for whichever ghost to get away. He hadn't thought that she would be so angry.

He couldn't even see most of her face, but he could feel her hatred rolling off of her in waves when she had turned to face him. It had stunned him for just a moment, but that was all she had needed to catch him with her weird ass ecto covered fish wire. He could still feel it wrapped around him. He could still feel the places that it had managed to bruise but thankfully, because of his jacket, not cut.

When he'd been brought down to the ground only seconds later to receive a powerful kick right to his stomach, he couldn't even find enough of his wits to gather to defend himself. Not that he really had many options with his arms pinned, but even if he could think of anything all of his thoughts went out the window at seeing the ecto laced, long bladed knife in her hand.

Shit. The wound was deep. Really deep. He didn't know if he could heal it before he...shit, shit, shit!

Pressing his hand over it again he couldn't help but wonder just what Fenton's mother knew about them. About just what she had found out. After all, why would she hiss at him to stay away from her son if she didn't know that something was going on between them?

His heart stilled when the creaking of the heavy door filled up the otherwise silent warehouse. He didn't know what to do as his mind raced in a million different directions all at once. He couldn't hide anywhere. It had taken all of his energy just to get here. He didn't have enough power left to fly anywhere either, or to even go invisible. He was a sitting duck.

Breathing became a struggle as he panted against his hand. For a moment he was worried he was about to hyperventilate, but the echo of heels clicking across the ground quickly chased the thought away from his mind.

What was he going to do? What could he do? He'd pissed off hunters before, but none of them had ever had this much of a rage towards him, and none of them had even come this close to being as good as Maddie was. At least not since Vlad.

Was he actually going to die here? Sitting in the dark all alone? Was this where it was all going to end? He wasn't even going to get a chance to see his father? Would he just end up becoming full ghost or was she going to destroy him than too? Shit! What was going to happen to him if he became full ghost? Was he still going to be the same? Would he remember his Dad at all? Valarie? Danny? Anything? God he really hoped that dying this way wasn't going to warp his ghost form into some mindless, rage spirit.

Screwing his eyes shut as the sound drew closer he didn't know what else to do but wait. She had to know that he couldn't get far like this. She was taking her time in following after his trail. She was taunting him. Like a true hunter stalking after its wounded prey. Dragging out the inevitable outcome just to scare him. Just to make sure he knew he wasn't getting out of this one.

Man, humans were the worst.

Even so he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of cowering.

Dropping his hand from his mouth he glared at the corner of the box that he knew that she would be rounding in just a few seconds. Clenching his now free hand into a fist he sharpened his gaze into a glare.

If she was going to take him out than he was going down right.

He could feel a weak snarl pulling at the corners of his lips, his fangs no doubt gleaming in the dull light that was cast from the streetlamps outside as she rounded the corner. He didn't know whether to feel insulted or relieved to the fact that she wasn't pointing her gun at him. When he took in her somewhat relaxed stance he could understand that she no longer saw him as a threat and if that wasn't a somewhat sharp slap to the face he didn't know what was.

"To think that I actually thought that you were a challenge." She scoffed, not bothering to keep her gaze on him as she clicked a few buttons on the side of her gun.

"Maybe you just didn't have the proper motivation before." Danny snickered, only able to keep his humour up for so long before he was interrupted by a rough cough. When he moved his hand away he winched at the amount of blood that was splattered over his fingers and dripping down his wrist, sliding underneath his jacket.

Drawing his attention upwards again he couldn't say that he was all that shocked to see the end of a gun pointed right at his face.

"Yes well, it looks like I've found it now."

Her words were eerily calm, like someone who had done this one to many times before. Like it didn't matter that she was about to completely destroy someones existence, dead or not. Her mind was made up, and Danny was quickly coming to the realization that nothing he could say or do to her was going to change that. She was really going to kill him.

Oddly enough the panic that he'd felt before from that realization was dulled. An almost weird sense of numbness settled over him instead as he wiped his blood covered hand off on his jeans and leaned heavily back against the large wooden box behind him. He wasn't going to beg her to let him go. His cries would no doubt fall onto deaf ears anyways. All he could do was just wait for her to pull the trigger.

"Before you, you know, 'rekill me' I guess," he mumbled, staring passed the gun to lock his gaze with her's, her hand tightening around the gun not going unnoticed. "Do you think you could tell Danny goodbye for me?"

The speed of her movement within the next few seconds startled him. The gun was shoved under his chin, forcing his head to tilt back as her other hand fisted a good portion of his jacket and hoisted him forward from the create. Her face was so close that he could smell traces of mint gum as her breath spilled over his nose. He could feel her arms shaking, but he knew that it was from contained rage rather than fugitive, and he couldn't help his eyes from going wide as he stared into her goggled covered gaze.

"You do not speak my son's name." Her voice was such a low and venomous hiss that it startled him for a moment. He could recognize that hate. He could understand that anger. His mother has sounded the same way to her own father when he'd betrayed them. Her voice had that same sting when the men in the white coats had come to take them away.

"I'm not going to hate you."

She shot back from him at his words, leaving him to slam back into the hard wood with a little more force than his wounded body would have liked. With a wince he tried to resettle himself into a more comfortable position. Finding none he turned his attention back to the stunned woman before him.

"I'm not." He repeated. "I get it. Seriously I do. You want to protect your son and you're willing to do anything to keep him safe.

Gritting her teeth she pointed her gun back at him.

"You could never understand this. You could never understand what it feels like to have a child in danger."

"No." He agreed, rolling his shoulder back in hopes that it would somehow make the box more soft. "You're right. I've never had a kid. I don't know how it feels to see them in danger whether it's real or not, but I did have a Mom, and I know just how far some parents are willing to go to protect their children." Grinning up at her, he could feel himself growing weaker even as his smile sharpened to a fine point. "But just so you know, this is only going to make Danny pull away from you even more."

Any hesitation that she had been having was quickly thrown to the side as her hand steadied and her gaze narrowed once more.

"Once I get you out of the picture, what ever it is that has been pledging my son's mind will leave with you. He'll come around again."

"Come around to what?" Danny hissed, the words a struggle to get out of his mouth as every one of them needed to be forced. "To the fact that you guys hunt down and partake in the unrightful imprisonment of people who have done nothing wrong?"

A hollow laugh fell from her lips and curled around Danny like a snake, tightening its grip until he felt like he was suffocating.

"You're forgetting that you have to be alive to be considered a person."

Danny had nothing to say to that. Scowling at her words he took in a deep breath as he watched her finger finally curl around the trigger. Just as the shot was about to leave the barrel another shot knocked the gun out of her hands and sent the blast just a few inches to Danny's side.

He didn't realize how much his heart had been racing until he could hear himself panting loudly in the quiet of the warehouse. For a moment his eyes drifted over to where the blast had hit. Trying to swallow passed a suddenly dry mouth he could see the smoke lazily rising up from the large hole that was only about two fingers width away from his face.

That had been a little to close.

"Nights!"

Attention snapping to the other direction his mouth fell open at the sight of Fenton sprinting up to him. Dropping to his knees the hunter slid the rest of the way to the fallen teen, not coming to a stop until he was pressed against the others side.

"Oh shit." Fenton mumbled, his eyes wide as he stared at the wound that was still oozing blood.

Danny let out a sharp hiss when Fenton placed his hand over his own, applying even more pressure to the wound while he dug around in his pocket for something with his free hand. A yelp was ripped from passed the spirit's lips when he felt a sharp jab in his side.

"Danny what on earth are you doing!?"

Maddie, who had apparently recovered from her shock, tore her son away from the spector. Danny gave a small whine, hating the fact that he was useless to help the other right now as he tried to follow after the two hunters, only managing to lean forward enough to rest on his one hand that wasn't pressing against his wound.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Fenton snapped, yanking his arm away from his mother as the two stared each other down.

"I'm doing my job!" Maddie shot back. "Unless you've forgotten that this is what we do."

Danny watched Fenton's back as his whole form went tense. He tried to stay focused on the two before him but his head was starting to feel funny and the world around him was growing a little fuzzy. Whatever it was that Hunter had given him, it was starting to kick in. It was either that or he was going to bleed out very soon.

He was hoping for the first one.

"You said you just wanted to catch Nights." Fenton's voice was low when he spoke, and Danny found that it took all of his attention to focus on what was going to happen next. "You never said that you were going to fade him."

"Yes well," Maddie placed a hand on her hip as she glared at the green eyed male from over her son's shoulder, "I'm starting to realize that it might just be easier to get rid of the problem."

"I'm not going to let you do that."

Throwing her hands up in the air Maddie took a step towards her son. "What's gotten into you lately!" She shouted, her hands dropping to his shoulders to pull him in. "Is he possessing you? Is that what this is? Are you really trying to reach out to me? Is he controlling you some how?"

"No!"

"Than how do you explain this!?" She fumed as she threw her hand out in Danny's direction. "How can you as a hunter just stand by the sidelines and allow this ghost to roam free doing as he pleases?"

"How can you see that what we're doing is clearly not working!?" Fenton snapped back, holding his ground as Danny struggled to get to his feet. "It hasn't worked for years. There's still a huge gap between humans and ghosts and us running around and throwing them back into their zone is clearly not working. Why can't you guys just take a second to actually learn from them? To talk to them? If you could just do that than you'd see how much easier it is to deal with them."

"What?" The single word was so broken, so quiet, that he was surprised that either of the hunters had heard it. Danny could only stare at the other as Fenton whirled around on him, his hands held out in front of him and his own gaze wide.

"Wait, Nights that came out wrong. I didn't mean..."

"Is this just some new trick and trap technique? You played along so that you could figure out more about ghosts and find easier ways to 'deal with them'?" Danny asked, his voice getting stronger and more bitter as he spoke.

He could feel his lost energy from before slowly returning to him, and it made him feel queezy to think that Fenton might have only been trying to help him so he could eventually trick Danny into getting new information about how to better hunt down the ones he was trying to protect.

"Oh!" Maddie gasped grabbing a hold of her son and spinning him back around to face her as Danny shakily stood on his feet. "I completely understand now Honey! Why didn't you just tell us that this was some new plan that you were trying out? We've all been so worried."

"What? Mom no." Fenton hissed, removing her hands from his person and ducking out of her reach.

When he turned around once more to face Danny the boy gave a low growl, a warning for him to stay back to which the hunter listened to.

"I didn't mean to say it like that. I swear that I'm not using you Nights, I just, I want to learn more about you and ghosts in general, you know that."

Letting out a small huff Danny eyed the other wearily for a moment before he relaxed against the boxes. He supposed that was true. After all Hunter never tried to hide the fact that he wanted to learn more about ghosts, and Danny had seen him first hand let them go if they weren't around to bother anyone. So it wasn't so much as using as it was learning.

"I believe you Hunter."

The smile he received for his words made a small smile pull at his own lips in return.

"No!" Maddie's sudden shout shocked them both as she grabbed a hold of her son again and yanked him back behind her. "I've already lost the love of my life to a ghost! I'm not losing my son too!"

Thankful for his new found energy and odd numbness of pain, Danny just manged to leap out of the way of another shot. Seconds later Hunter got a hold of his mother, stealing the gun away from her while still making sure that she couldn't go after the other even with just her fists.

"Mom stop!"

Stumbling into the nearest box Danny pressed his hand back against his side. He felt his eyes go wide and he quickly took a glance down when he noticed that the wound didn't seem to be bleeding as badly anymore. His jaw went slack when he saw that it had somehow grown smaller, that it was already healing, that it wasn't nearly as deep as it had been a few minutes ago. That couldn't have been right though. While his healing powers were great, being half human did make them significantly slower. It had taken hours for them to just get rid of a simple hickey and an entire night and most of the morning to heal from his usual tussles with the hunters. Why was this one healing so fast?

"Let me go Danny!"

Snapping his attention away from himself he turned back to his friend. He didn't know if he should jump in and help him or if just being closer to them would set the woman off even more and make her way more difficult to calm down. Seeing how much she hated ghosts however he figured that the smartest thing to do would be to hang back.

He felt useless doing nothing other than standing there, and guilt stabbed at his gut knowing that they were fighting with each other because of him. He didn't mean to put Fenton against his own family. In all honesty he'd completely forgotten that they were bound to become involved at all. He'd just been so wrapped up with Fenton that it had almost completely slipped his mind. Something he was starting to realize was a little sad considering how much Fenton brought them up and how much Fenton warned him about how dangerous they were to him.

Yikes. He really needed to work on taking the guy a little more seriously...

"Danny as your mother I order you to give that back!"

When Fenton in turn threw the gun in a random direction, far enough away that it wouldn't be any problem, Maddie gave out a frustrated growl that sounded more ghost than human.

"This is unbelievable! Can't you see that we're just trying to help you!?" She snapped, while Fenton carefully edged around her until he had his back to Danny.

"I don't need help Mom." Fenton's voice was oddly low, as if he was taking special caution not to startle her into another fight. "Just talk to him. Please. That's all I want. You'll see that he's not a bad guy."

Danny took in a deep breath as Fenton slowly backup until he was next to his side. He was relieved to find that even breathing didn't seem to hurt all that much anymore and taking another quick glance down he could tell that the injury was almost healed. It couldn't have been a better time either. He could feel his energy and power slowly coming back to him. He would have no problem going intangible and getting them both out of here if things were about to go south.

Keeping that as a backup plan he zeroed in on Maddie as she slowly straightened herself out. Careful green eyes watched as she took a few deep breaths, a stiff sort of calm settling over her as she kept her gaze solely on her son, completely ignoring the one at his side.

"Sweetie, I know that you think that its different,"

"Um, ouch." Danny muttered, frowning at her blunt refusal to even call him a he rather than an it.

"but you know that this isn't the first time that a ghost has emotionally clung onto a human before. You know what it leads to."

"This is different." Fenton insisted while Danny shifted in discomfort next to his side.

Maddie scoffed at his words, pressing her fingers against her forehead as her eyes screwed shut.

"If you don't want me to fade it than fine." She mumbled. "We can hand it over to Vlad for some tests instead."

As the single word slipped passed her lips Danny felt his blood run cold. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as a sudden panic squeezed at his heart so tightly that he felt like he was choking for air.

Vlad? Was she talking about the Vlad? The one who even the worst nightmares were afraid of? The one who had been hunting him down for years? The one who had held him captive for years? The one who had killed his mother? Fenton knew him!

"You know what happened to the last one that Uncle Vlad had." Fenton hissed.

Danny choked. The air that his body so desperately needed couldn't seem to get passed the sudden and sharp lump in his throat while his vision swam. Not only did Fenton know Vlad, that guy was his uncle? Fenton knew about what the man had done? He knew what the outcome had been? Had he sat there and listened to everything that Vlad had done with a smile on his face at what was being done to the ghosts they all hated so much?

He must have looked more shook up than he realized because he could feel Maddie's eyes burning into him for once and he could see from the corner of his eye Fenton turning to face him as well.

"Nights? Are you alright?"

Snapping back to attention Danny shot back, out of the reach of the hand that had been inches from touching his shoulder as a nasty snarl pulled at his lips.

"Don't touch me."

The sound of his voice threw both the humans off, their eyes going wide at the nearly demonic tone that was laced with it.

Fenton knew that guy. He knew that monster. He knew about his research. They all did.

"Nights what's wrong?"

When he went to take a step forward Danny let out a growl. With a sharp wave of his hand a strong blast of ectoplasma shot out and scorched the ground inches away from where Hunter's foot would have landed, forcing him to keep back.

"See, its already turning against you!" Maddie sounded delighted to see that she was right, but Nights could barely hear it over the echos of screaming voices in his head.

God, how many times had he been beaten? How many times had he been tested on? How many times had he been starved, and humiliated? Left on his own to suffer in silence while large men in lab coats watched him from behind glass windows?

"No Mom. Somethings not right."

All their words sounded fuzzy, like he was under water and slowly drowning. He could feel the burning in his lungs. He could remember the tests that they had done that involved just that.

It was the day when he found out he could in fact, drowned.

"Nights?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

He was lashing out at the men in the white suits, at the men in the lab coats, at every hunter that refused to leave him be, at every ghost that had hunted him down or turned him over, at Vlad, at Maddie, at Danny Fenton.

Before either of them could get over their shock he turned his back on them. Finally having enough energy he kicked off the ground and flew threw the building until he was able to breath in the cold air of outside. Or at least he tried to breath. He felt like he was being strangled, like the cooling breeze rushing against his face was a million little flames licking at his skin and trying to burn it down to the bone.

How could his life be this much of a joke? How could it be that the one person he felt like he really connected with was the nephew of a monster? How could he be sure that Fenton wasn't involved in anything that had to do with what had happened to him and his mother? If he asked was he going to be able to believe the hunter?

Not knowing what else he could do Danny screamed out his rage until his throat went raw.


	24. Chapter 24

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 24

"Nights!"

Danny knew that his words were bound to fall on deaf ears, but he couldn't stop himself from trying to get the others attention anyways. Without giving a second thought as to if his mother would want him to stay and talk about what had just happened, he took off back towards the door that he had come from.

By the time he got back outside he shivered in the cold bite of the night air, but he quickly pushed his discomfort away as he searched the sky for his friend.

Unsurprisingly, Nights was no where to be seen. Cursing lowly to himself Danny started sprinting in the direction he knew that the other haunted. That was really the only place that he felt he could check and actually get somewhere with. Other than that one apartment building Danny really didn't know where else the ghost would eventually end up. His only problem now was that even if Nights was there, would he want to speak with Danny?

That was probably the oddest thing about all of this. Danny had just helped save him. He'd just shown Nights that he wasn't afraid to go against his mother in order to make sure that he was going to be okay, so just what had set him off? Everything had been fine... well, at the very least it had been under control. Sure his Mom might have been talking about turning him over to Vlad but...

Wait. Vlad.

The moment that they had mentioned Vlad something about Nights had changed. That was when the young ghost teen had switched mood so drastically. He'd completely shut down, ignoring every word of comfort or worry that Danny tried to get through to him. Than when Danny reached out he made it very clear that he didn't want Danny anywhere near him. After he had heard them mention Vlad's name. After he had heard Danny call him Uncle Vlad.

Ideas that had been resting in his mind for the last few days came back with a vengeance as he continued to run through the empty streets. The idea that maybe it hadn't just been the one ghost that Vlad had caught. The idea that maybe that ghost had managed to have a child with a human. The idea that, that child could be Danny Phantom.

If that was true than that meant that Vlad had held him prisoner for years. That would mean that at the tender age of eight he would have been ripped from everything that he knew, the people that loved him, and thrown into a cruel world of dissection tables, endless painful tests, and people who would never see him as a frightened and hurt human child. To them he just would have been some sort of mistake. Danny himself had thought that it would make him some sort of freak of nature, and he wasn't wrong. A living person with all of the abilities of a ghost? They would be more dangerous than anything he could imagine. It wasn't just the fact that it would mean that he could effortless hide himself among humans, it would be that he not only held ghost energy that allowed him to do pretty much whatever he pleased, it was also that he had living human energy as well. With the two combined together he was a force that shouldn't be taken lightly.

He was still Nights though, and Nights would never do anything to hurt anyone intentionally. Danny had lost count of how many times Nights could have taken any member of his group out all to easily, and yet he never did. He never tried to permanently wound any of the hunters even though he would have had more than enough of a reason to want every single one of them dead.

Thinking back Danny could remember one of the first few fights he'd had with Nights. It would have been about two months ago now. The only fight he'd had where he had actually felt threatened. The only fight where Nights had become serious and angry. The fight where he had caught Box Ghost when he was trying to get a few items for his pregnant wife. Whenever his mind went back to that fight he just assumed that it was different since Box Ghost really wasn't ever a threat to anyone and therefore Nights probably saw the whole thing as Danny just bullying someone who hadn't done anything wrong. The more he thought of that however the more he realized that if that were so than Nights would have reacted that way to every single one of Danny's hunts, considering the fact that they went after ghosts all of the time who hadn't done anything. No, he could finally see what was different about this one now.

Box Ghost had been getting things for his wife. He had been caught while he was trying to bring back gifts for his pregnant wife. Nights reaction was from seeing himself in the situation. He could relate to being torn away from his family by hunters and what it lead to. He had felt threatening in the situation because he would do anything to make sure that it never happened to anyone else. He was so serious during that time because he knew just how it felt to be ripped from a family.

If that realization didn't make Danny sick than he had no idea why he suddenly want to hurl.

God. How had he been able to sit there for years listening to Vlad talk about just what he was doing to the ghost? The ghost that he was becoming more and more sure was really Nights' Mother. Was really Danny Phantom's Mother. Shame burned in the pit of his stomach as he remembered just how many questions he'd asked Vlad. Just how often he'd wondered what kind of reactions that they had managed to pull from her this time. Just how little he had cared over the fact that he knew that she was in love with someone and that they had stolen her from that small comfort, and forced her into a world that was cold and uncaring. Guilt burned at his eyes when he remembered being disappointed over the fact that she had faded, not because it had meant that they had killed her, but because it meant that he no longer got to hear just what they were going to try next.

Slowly he found himself coming to a stop.

How was he supposed to face Nights when he had been part of what had torn the boy's world apart? How could he even try to comfort him when he had known what was going on for years and had never once done anything to stop it or asked the right questions? How could he possibly tell Nights that he was sorry, that he hadn't known? It shouldn't have mattered that it was Nights. It shouldn't have made any difference, because at the end of the day, regardless of who it was or had been, Danny should have done something just because it would have been the right thing to do.

Dropping himself back to rest against a random brick wall he brought his hand up to press over his eyes as he allowed a thick wave of shame, guilt, and disgust wash over him.

Sure he had only been eight at the time of Nights' kidnapping, but to know that he had known what was going on. To think of Nights going through all of that alone, to know that he had played a role, however small in the death of Nights' mother...

Moving both of his hands to his face he pressed the heels of his palms roughly against his eyes and screamed.

He couldn't blame Nights for taking off. He couldn't blame Nights for not wanting to be anywhere near him. He couldn't blame Nights for wanting to leave him alone. He'd pretty much just confessed that he had known what was going on to Nights and his Mother at the time, and that he had done nothing to stop it.

Nights was right. Hunters were the worst.


	25. Chapter 25

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 25

His eyes burned as he stared at the glowing red numbers of the clock that rested cheerfully on his bedside desk. He'd been staring at it since he'd managed to crawl his way home earlier this morning. He hadn't been able to do much more than a noise of recognition when he had walked by Vlad yesterday. He knew that if he opened his mouth to say anything it would just lead to an all out yelling match that would no doubt lead to physical blows, something of which he just knew he would have lost in his state last night. He hadn't even gone downstairs to stop by the main control room to see Tucker. Instead he'd dragged himself up the stairs and flopped down on his bed, hoping to lose himself to the mercy of a blank world filled with nothing but darkness for a little while.

After hours had passed, after watching every-single-one, of those hours pass, he knew that it was hopeless. His clock was reading 6:29pm, and in one more minute it was going to go off, screeching into his ear and warning him to start getting ready for the day.

Shifting under his sheets he grabbed at the wire and with a rough yank and ripped it from the wall. The last thing that he wanted to hear right now was the pricing blare of his alarm.

With a silent sigh he rolled over onto his back and pushed himself up. Drawing his knees up he rested his elbows across them as he stared at the far side of his wall. He knew what he was supposed to be doing right now. Take a shower, brush his teeth, get changed and ready for school, eat breakfast, talk to his mother about possible sightings and so on and so on. His heart wasn't in it anymore though, he couldn't even seem to find the energy to move his gaze away from the far wall, much less actually get out of bed and going through everything else. It all seemed so tedious and pointless. He didn't want to get ready to go to school, he didn't want to face Phantom there. He had no idea what the guy would even say or if he would say anything at all. He didn't want to listen to his Mom go on about ghosts, he couldn't handle listening to her go on about how they weren't people and how they should be hunted and just what tests she was going to run on them the moment that she caught them.

His gaze finally did move, drifting over to his window to see if maybe Nights would be there. Although he knew that there would be no chance that he would see the other he still felt his heart sink down to his stomach with the lack of the ghost smiling at him through his window.

How was he going to fix this? Just what could he do to make this better? What could he do to make Nights see that he was nothing like his mother? That he was nothing like Vlad? At least, not anymore. Would he even be able to get close to Nights again? Would he even see the other show up in random places at random times just so that they could hangout together?

Dropping his gaze down to the sheets that covered his knees he crossed his arms and buried his face in them.

He didn't know what to do anymore. He highly doubted he ever really knew what to do in the first place. Things had been going so well, and now his chest actually hurt at the Nights' absence. It felt like someone had scooped out his heart with an ice cream spoon, leaving nothing but a heavy darkness behind. A darkness that seeped throughout the rest of his body making him feel like stone and turning his insides cold.

He'd never wanted to call himself a murder, but he had been thinking that maybe that name was more suiting than the word hunter. While he'd been ready to face it he wasn't ready to know that he could have had any involvement with tearing a family apart. His stomach still turned as he wondered just what Vlad had done to them both. How long had he kept them apart for? What did Nights' father think when he came home one day to find his son and wife missing? How long did every day feel in their absence?

What would Danny do if his Mother suddenly went missing? What would he do if his Mother and Jazz went missing? How long would he look for them for before he would give up? What would he do if he found the person that had held them against their will?

The more he thought of it the more he found himself amazed to still be breathing. If Danny had been in Nights' shoes he would have killed anyone who had even the smallest connection.

"Danny?"

Even though the distance was short, Danny found that his head felt to heavy to lift. Instead he gave a small grumble to make his sister aware that he had heard her. Not even a few seconds later he could hear his door click shut and the soft padding of Jazz's socked feet crossing his floor to his bed.

"I heard what happened last night."

The bed dipped as she took a seat beside him, his body tilting over and leaning into her's while she wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What did you hear?"

Depending on what she thought he was upset over, he couldn't really pick which one she could have been talking about, he wasn't sure he did want to talk. If he did there were so many things that had happened last night that he was sure he could have gone on for hours.

"Well," Jazz mumbled, her voice a small comfort, "from what Mom said last night, you fought against her, and saved your boyfriend."

The last part got Danny's attention as his head snapped up and his mouth moved quicker than his brain.

"He's not my boyfriend Jazz!" He snapped, his face flushed.

It seemed to take him a second to realize that he was getting way to defensive over the simple misunderstanding. She had caught them making out after all, who wouldn't have thought that they were dating? While he supposed he had told her so just the day before he supposed he'd only been mounting on the evidence that went against his own claim. With a small scowl he dropped his chin back onto his arms and glared at the wall across from him.

"I don't think he'll ever want to see me again anyways."

"Why would you think that?"

She sounded generally confused, and Danny guessed that Maddie had left out the last bit of the scene from last night. She must not have mentioned anything about the fact that they talked about Vlad and than Nights took off. Now that he was thinking about it his Mother probably had no idea that the two were even connected. To her it might have just appeared that Nights had snapped out of nowhere and lashed out at them. She didn't believe that it was at all possible to be able to have a child between a ghost and a human and unless Danny could show her and let her see for herself she never would. Not that he was about to out Nights or anything. The last thing he wanted to do was hand him over to his Mother. No doubt the first thing that Maddie would want to do would be to cut him open and do all sorts of tests on him.

Yeah, he was so not letting that happen.

Turning his head just the slightest he stared at his sister for a moment. From the way that she appeared so put together and perfectly, she must have been up for hours before him. That was something that he had always admired about his sister. If she was in his position she wouldn't have let it stop her from going about her normal day. She would have controlled her emotions better than he ever could and would have probably already found a solution to his problem.

And than there was him.

Still sitting in bed with no motivation to get up and take on the world. As far as he was concerned he was done. He just couldn't find it in himself to do anything. All of his roads lead to dead ended and he just wanted to stop before he went flying off an unmade bridge.

As he continued to eye his sister he carefully peered around her and than took to looking all around his room. If he was going to trust her with what he thought was going on he wanted to make sure that there was no way for anyone to be listening to him. His Mom was so rightfully paranoid he wouldn't have been shocked if she placed bugs or hidden cameras in his room and Vlad was so...well Vlad, that nothing that he did would have surprised Danny anymore.

Satisfied with his results Danny turned his attention back to his sister.

"Jazz, can you promise me that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you?"

He watched as her brows drew together in confusion, but she still gave a nod of her head as she made a zip lock motion across her mouth.

"I promise that nothing you say will leave this room."

Really he had no reason not to believe her. When she was in high school Jazz was the one person that almost everyone went to see, and not once, no matter how many times he had begged her, would she ever tell him anything that any of his classmates would talk about. Back than he'd thought it was an annoyance, after all he could have gotten so much good blackmail from it, but now he respected his sister for keeping the secrets that people had trusted her with. There weren't many people that he knew that anyone would trust baring their soul too. If Jazz said she wouldn't utter a word, than she wouldn't.

"Do you remember a few years ago, when Vlad had told us that he found and caught a ghost that had fallen in love with a human?"

She arched a brow at him, probably not expecting for those to be the words to come out of him mouth. They all knew about that project that Vlad had done, it was his longest running one to date with his strongest test subject. Above all of his other accomplishments, that was the one that he had been most proud of.

"Well I think that she did more than just fall in love." He muttered, making sure to keep his voice low as he glance around the room once more. "I'm pretty sure that she actually managed to have a child with a human."

"What!?"

Jazz quickly slapped a hand over her mouth and than joined Danny in looking around the room. It was as if they both thought that the other hunters in the building would hear them talking together and manifest out of thin air. Once they were both satisfied that her outburst hadn't drawn any startled attention she turned back to him, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Danny you know that couldn't be possible."

"I'll admit that it doesn't make much sense." Danny agreed, "But it could just be highly improvable."

"But that..."

"And I'm pretty sure that Vlad kidnapped their child too." He continued before his sister could finish. "And I think that, that child is Nights."

Her mouth fell open as she took in his words. It would have been comical to see her so dumbstruck if the situation wasn't so serious. After a moment she dropped her arm from his shoulder and placed it to her head, leaning back against his headboard as if she was suddenly dizzy.

"Oh my god."

"Do you know what this means? It means that I played a part in killing his Mother. I played a part in taring apart his family. I don't..."

"Oh Danny."

He didn't realize how fast he'd been breathing, or just how close he'd been on the verge of a panic attack, but when she wrapped him up in a tight hug he could feel the way that his body shook in her arms. This whole thing was just making him an emotional wreck and he didn't know how much longer he could go on for before he burned out. He had no idea how Nights had faired so well this far.

"Nothing that happened to them was your fault baby brother." Jazz cooed softly, petting his hair gently. "You were just a kid back than, you didn't..."

"I knew what was going on Jazz." He hissed, a sudden rage that he hadn't even realized had been resting deeply in his chest over flowing until it filled his enter being. "I knew what was going on and I didn't do anything to stop it. I..."

"Danny." His name was said firmly, cutting him off abruptly before he could continue to rage at himself for his stupidity. "You were a hunter back than, it's what you were raised up to do. It's in the past though and there's nothing that you can do to change that." She said, loosening her hold around him so that she could stare down at him, "but you can chose to do whatever comes next."

She was right. He knew that she was and he could feel his rage instantly die at her words, Bonelessly he dropped himself against the headboard and continued to stare at the wall. She was right, but that didn't mean that he had any idea on what he was going to do now.

"If I find Nights, I don't know what he'll end up doing. He was so angry last night, and he had every reason to be, but now he knows that Vlad is a close family friend of ours and I don't..." he allowed his words to trail off into nothingness as he gave his shoulders a weak shrug.

Still, it was odd. They hadn't seen Vlad in forever and than he just shows up out of nowhere shortly after Nights appears with no warning. What would he say if he...

Danny shot up so quickly that he nearly knocked Jazz from her spot on the bed.

"Oh shit." He cursed, quickly scrambling to the edge of the bed and getting to his feet. "Vlad's here to catch Nights."

Jazz's face pinched up for a moment as her mouth opened, ready to question her brother before her expression swiftly switched back to panic.

"Nights got away." She gasped in realization. "Vlad must have somehow figured out that he was here..."

"This makes so much sense now!" Danny exclaimed, running his hands through his hair frantically. "I've been wondering for months why Nights wouldn't show his face or give his name. He's been hiding." Danny hissed. "But he still put himself out there so that he could save others from going through what he had to."

"It's weird to see this from a different perspective." Jazz said, his nose scrunching up while she stared at the top of the blankets. "I mean I just always assumed that we were the good guys, but hearing that Uncle Vlad has been ripping apart families and running terrible tests on kids is...disturbing."

Danny couldn't help but agree with her. He'd always held that other man up on such a high pilaster, he'd always looked up to Vlad as a father figure and mentor. To see him for what he really was now, it left his brain in a spin. Sure while Maddie and Danny's tests were harsh at least most of their ghosts got sent back to Walker rather than fading. He knew from endless hours of talking to Vlad that the man was never done with any of them until they had faded completely.

He couldn't imagine allowing him to do the same to Nights.

"We have to do something."

When he turned back to Jazz he had no idea what to expect. While she stayed mostly out of the ghost business, especially in the last few years as she started focusing more and more on school, she still sided with their Mother on the whole idea of it. Even after she had caught Danny with Nights she had said that she would keep his secret, but it was obvious that she didn't actually approve. He knew that he was asking a lot of her to go against their Mother, he knew that it was a lot to ask her to choose a side, but he couldn't do this without her. He didn't even know where he should start.

Surprisingly however when he finally looked at her he was shocked to see that her her eyes had narrowed in determination and that she was nodding her head along with her words.

"If what you're saying is true, and that Vlad's been hunting down a human child...or at least partly human child, than we have to stop him."

"Really?" Danny couldn't help the amount of surprise that slipped out with that question as he stared at his sister.

Jazz just gave him a soft smile, sliding off the bed and walking back over to the young hunter.

"Of course Danny. What kind of sister would I be if I turned my back on my brother when he needed me?"

Words wouldn't have been able to express the amount of gratitude that he had for her. They never would be. So instead Danny just wrapped his arms around her and held on to her tightly. He knew that he was more than lucky to have such an understanding older sibling. He knew that he was lucky to have a sibling at all. A lot of his friends and that other people that he knew didn't have anyone that had their backs if things went sour.

"Thank you Jazz."

"You're welcome."

They stayed like that for a moment longer until Jazz pulled back and stared down at him seriously.

"Now we have to think about what we have to do. So, fill me in, what all happened last night?"

Danny went over everything that he could remember in vivid detail, even the parts where he had gone against their mother and he had to look away from his sister's face at those moments. When he was done Jazz squinted her eyes, placing her chin against her hand as she looked off to the side in her 'therapist' like way.

"From what you're saying I think that Nights might be associating you a little with Vlad, he might even think that you're working for him." She said, and Danny winced as she solidified his worst fear. "We're going to need him to see that you're on his side." She continued, "but at the same time I think that Mom's about ready to keep you locked away in the house so we're going to have to do something about that too." She hummed, tapping her finger against her chin while she thought.

"So like what? I'm going to have to be a double agent or something?"

Although he had just been joking, when Jazz turned back to face him as if he had just solved all of the answers he quickly put up his hands.

"Wait Jazz I was just..."

"That's a great idea! I heard Mom and Vlad talking, they're going to go out looking for Nights tonight." She said, and Danny found himself growing silent as fear slowly crept up on him. Both his Mom and Vlad? Nights would be done for. "What if you tell them that being 'attacked' by Nights last night made you see that they couldn't be trusted and that they were right all along? It would get you placed on the hunting party and than you could help him out."

"Um, okay." Danny mumbled, the idea not sounding to terrible as he thought it over. "But if I do that than what's to stop Nights from attacking me for real? And what do I do if he does? I don;t want to hurt him. But at the same time if he thinks that I betrayed him than I wouldn't blame him for coming after me."

"Well," Jazz said with a shrug as she reached out and patted his shoulder, "I guess maybe it's good that you're a really good hunter than. You don't have to hurt him, but I'm sure that you've got a few moves that could keep him pinned until he hears you out."

"Great."

Although it really was the only way that he could see any plan working he still wasn't to enthusiastic about it. Not only was he going to have to lie to him Mom, but he was going to have to pretend to agree with everything they were saying so that he could gain their trust. Than he was going to have to somehow get a hold of Nights and make sure that the guy didn't try to maim him or anything before he could explain himself. Than after all that...actually, what would be his next move?

"So, what do I do after I get Nights to trust me again and where back on the same page?" He asked, his lips pulling into a tight frown as he tried to think of anything that wouldn't end up blowing up in his face.

At his question Jazz's brows pulled together and her brow scrunched up as she thought.

"I'm not sure. Obviously neither Mom nor Vlad are going to be happy about it, but I'm sure once we show Mom that Nights is also part human she'll drop any hard feeling towards him, and who knows, maybe it'll lighten up her mood about all other ghosts in general?"

Not even she sounded to sure about her own answer, but Danny supposed that at least she was trying.

"There is no way that we can do this that won't blow up in my face right?" He asked.

With a long sigh she shook her head. "Nope. But at least it's something we can work on. I mean when something breaks at least you can rebuild it, bigger and stronger than before."

"Or destroy it completely." Danny muttered, his outlook on the situation no where near as bright as hers.

He really had no other choice though. He had to save Nights.

"Alright." He mumbled, more to himself than anyone as he rolled his shoulders back and stood up to his full height. "If we're going to put this into action than I'm going to have to get ready for the day first."

With a nod of her head Jazz moved towards the door and gave him a small salute.

"Good luck bro."

Danny had a feeling he was going to need it.


	26. Chapter 26

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 26

Danny was seething. He was so beyond rage at this point. He was so angry. Angry at Fenton, angry at Maddie, at Vlad, at the world, at life, at himself. He had no idea how he could have let himself slip this far.

He'd known that trying to help out was a bad idea, his Dad always warned him to blend in and not stir up trouble, but he'd ignored the good advice and now his enemy was lurking somewhere around Amity Park. Well, not somewhere, Danny now knew just where he was, but the thought was far from comforting.

How could he have been stupid enough to let his guard down this much? Vlad knew where he was. He knew where he lived. That would mean that he also knew about his Dad and was no doubt watching him. That would mean that he would have to get that information from somewhere and the only one who knew where he 'haunted' was Fenton.

How could he have been that stupid?

The two were related. No doubt Fenton had gotten orders to start getting closer to the other once they saw how easy it would have been. After all Fenton had been trying to get him to leave him alone since they met, than it was as if his personality did a one eighty and he was going against his own family and siding with Danny. At the time Danny had thought it was because, just maybe, he was getting the hunter to see things from his point of view. That maybe Fenton was starting to see that not all ghost were bad. That maybe Fenton might have started to like him. Now he knew exactly what was really going on.

Vlad was using Fenton to lower Danny's guard. He was using Fenton in order to get Danny to revel everything that he had never told to Vlad. It was incredibly low, but not an uncommon practice for Vlad. After all he'd done the same thing once when Danny had been locked up.

So if he'd fallen for it once before how had he done so easily again? He should have known better, he should have known that Vlad would eventually find him and that when he did his whole world was going to be rocked again. He should have known that hunters kept in touch with one another. But how was he supposed to know that they were related? How was he supposed to know that Fenton and Vlad could have known each other?

God, did Vlad ever take Fenton to his lab? Did he ever show the boy what he was doing? Had Fenton enjoyed seeing his experiments? Had Fenton ever asked him to stop? Or asked him why he was doing it? Did he even care? Had he been behind that glass with a smile on his face as Danny screamed out in pain while he was being cut open?

Danny snarled at the images in his head and with a quick wave of his hand he allowed at least a small amount of rage to escape in the form of an ecto ball.

It was small, but upon impact it still managed to take out the entire dividing wall.

Staring at the left over rubble he wondered how many more times he could do this until the whole building would just collapse. He highly doubted anyone would mind, the thing was about to fall apart anyways and it's not like anyone lived here anymore.

Now that he was thinking about homes and where people lived, he might have wanted to contact his Dad. He hadn't gone home last night and he really wasn't in a mood to be putting on a mask for everyone right now, much less to be anywhere near Fenton, so there was no way he was going to show up anywhere today too. Thankfully with all of the late nights that his Dad had been doing he highly doubted that he even knew that Danny was missing and while he might have wondered if he hadn't found Danny there in the morning he could have just as well assumed that Danny went down the fire escape to hangout with Val. It's not like that would be to much of a far fetched idea, it was something Danny did almost nightly when she wasn't working. Still, there was no way he was going to be able to explain why the school had called his father because his son was skipping.

Than again maybe that was something that he could worry about later. He had more pressing matters to think of.

Turning his attention away from the wall that he had ruined he tuned back into his thoughts.

Now that he knew what was going on, what was he going to do? He couldn't tell his Dad. The man would freak out and move them away, probably by tonight. He couldn't do that again. He didn't want to. He actually had friends here...or at least a friend, and if he disappeared he didn't want Vlad to use her as some sort of bargain chip to draw him back. Also his Dad really liked this place. It was his childhood home and he was finally getting out of the house and doing what he wanted.

No, he was going to have to think of something else, of something...he should just attack first. Just like Vlad knew where he lived he could also assume that Vlad was staying with the Fenton's while he was in town. There was no way that his Dad would move them here if he knew that his son's captor lived just down the street. He could take Vlad out before the guy could continue to play whatever mind games he was fond of at the current moment and just get rid of the problem forever.

It sounded like a good plan in his head, and was no doubt going to be the best one that he could come up with, but there were a few major problems. Fenton and his family lived in there.

Sure while he was still pissed at having been tricked, he could never see himself killing the young hunter or his mother. Jazz was also the last one he'd ever think of hurting concerning that she didn't even have anything to do with the hunting life. Danny had kept her out of any of his tricks when he'd invaded their house the last time just for that reason. Now that didn't mean that he didn't want to kick the crap out of Fenton the next time he saw him, but there was no way he was going to destroy the boy's family over this either.

No, this was between him and Vlad.

It would be best if Fenton just stayed out of it.


	27. Chapter 27

WARNING: This chapter has some dark themes to it. So just prepare yourselves for mentions of cannibalism. Otherwise, enjoy. :)

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 27

Danny could feel the tense line of his shoulders as he shoved open the door of his building. Sure he could have just flown into his window without being seen, but if he could he wanted to do as little as possible ghost activity around his home. If Vlad had cameras set up somewhere he didn't want to be giving the guy any other type of footage that he could use to study from. So instead he scowled as his gaze drifted from one side of the buildings wall to the other, looking for any signs that there were hidden cameras glinting anywhere.

Upon not finding anything he shoved his hands deeply into the pockets of his jacket and used his shoulder once again to push open the door that lead to the stairs. The echo from his steps in the stairwell pulsed against his ears, the noise sounding way to loud and leaving a sharp ring behind in its wake. By the time he finally managed to get to his floor he was tempted to rub against the poor his poor ears but held back as he instead used his hands to shove open the side door.

He took a moment once he stepped out to peer around at anything, looking to see if it was out of place or had, in anyway, been tampered with. Everything looked just about normal though. None of the tacky pictures had been moved from their crooked positions, and none of the random mirrors that littered the hall had been moved or cracked. Not even the thin layer of dusted that rested like a second coat on the side of the walls had been disturbed.

Apparently even though Vlad knew where he lived he didn't have any interest in setting anything up to watch him. Just what was his game here? Had he really had so much faith in his plan with Fenton that he didn't think to use a plan 'B'? Than again he supposed that if Fenton hadn't outed himself the night before Danny never would have known.

His hand barely had a second to graze the doorknob before it was ripped from his hand by the overly violent action of it being yanked open. His voice caught in his throat as he stared up at the hulking form of his father.

The deep frown over the man's face made Danny wince as he slowly drew his own hand back, guilt heavily settling in his stomach.

He should have contacted his Dad way sooner.

"Why hello Danny." Jack said, his voice oddly even as he moved out of the the way of the door.

"Hey Dad." Danny muttered, his shoulders sinking under his Father's gaze as he stood awkwardly in the doorway shifting from foot to foot.

Seeing that he wasn't going to move any time soon the older man gave an exasperated sigh and reached out to pull his son in. Danny allowed the motion and simply stood in the place his Dad had left him once he was inside. His eye twitched at the sound of the door closing with a sharp snap, but there wasn't much else that he could do other than wait for his father to turn his attention back to him and see what he had to say.

"You'll never guess who I got a call from this morning." Jack said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder as he moved them both over to the living room and sat his down on the couch.

"The president?" Danny tired, forcing a small smirk over his face as he finally looked up at his father.

Seeing the tight frown over the others face Danny lost his own grin as his gaze dropped sharply to the ground. He knew that now wasn't a time for games. His Dad always got super serious whenever Danny went missing, even if it was just for a couple of hours.

"Your school." Jack said, apparently done with beating around the bush as he towered over his son at his full height. "They called to inform me that you were missing from all of your classes today."

Picking at a loose thread on the couch Danny gave a small shrug of his shoulders.

"They weren't wrong." He muttered lowly, not sure where he could look but knowing that there was no way he could look up at his father.

With a long sigh from the older man Danny chanced a quick glance upwards. He could see his father pinching at the bridge of his nose and quickly dropped his gaze again when his Dad opened his eyes once more.

"Are you going to tell me where you went off too?"

Pressing his lips together Danny didn't say a word.

He could count the amount of times that he'd taken off without telling his father, or anyone else, where he was going on one hand. If he did it again he was going to have to use two. Even so, he never once told his father where he went during these times or what he did. Mostly because he was ashamed.

There were times when he just needed to get away. When it became to much to pretend that he was alright and that everything was okay. When he just had to go somewhere to fall to pieces and recollect himself again. He knew that he should have been stronger than this, he knew that he should have been able to hold himself together better than this, but there were moments when he was to weak. Moments when the cracks in his armour were to big and he had to run away to rebuild them.

He couldn't tell his Dad though. The man did everything that he could to try and make sure that his son was safe. Did everything he could so that his son felt safe. Danny didn't want him to think that he had failed, especially since it was Danny's own fault for being found.

As the silence stretched on Danny felt that his hands had come to a firm grip on his knees. His knuckles had turned a bone white while the tips of his fingers had gone an angry red. Carefully he lifted his hands up from the tight grip that they had and stretched them out.

"Danny." Jack no longer sounded angry, he just sounded tired and Danny forced himself to look up at the man as his shoulders curled up to meet his ears.

The look over his Dad's face was so much worse than he could imagine. He could see how tired his father was, just how old he was getting, just how old Danny was making him. It killed him to see that. His Dad always did so much for him and Danny couldn't even open his mouth to say a word in response.

"If you don't want to tell me than that's fine." Jack said, his own gaze staring off to the side, the small action knifing threw Danny's heart. "But please just let me know when you're going to decide to disappear so I don't have to worry. I thought that..."

He didn't finish, and Danny didn't need him to. He knew what his father thought had happened, and if Danny wasn't careful for the next little while it might not just be a thought anymore, but a reality. He needed to get rid of Vlad before things got any worse.

"I worry about you son." Jack's bright blue eyes locked him into place when they met, and Danny could feel the air being stolen from his lungs as the guilt pressed down on him once again. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you again."

Getting up from his seat Danny wrapped his arms around his father's large figure and buried his head into his chest.

"I'm sorry Dad."

The man's large arms almost crushed him as he hugged him back with enough force to steal the air from him again. Danny didn't care though, he was just happy that his father hadn't pulled away from the initial contact.

"Danny look, I know that..."

Whatever it was that his father was about to say next was lost as his cellphone beeped loudly from his pocket. Being so on edge Danny gave a startled jump and ripped himself away from his father. His eyes had already snapped back and forth between everything before his Dad even had time to scoop out his phone from his pocket. Seeing that it really was just something as simple as a phone going off he couldn't stop the embarrassed flush over his cheeks as his Dad eyed him oddly before he brought the phone to his ear.

"This is Jack Fenton speaking." He greeted, no doubt having recognized whatever number was on the screen as a business one.

Danny tried to make out what was being said on the other line, but his Dad held out his hand and started to snap his fingers, a habit he'd started to keep Danny from eavesdropping on his conversations once he'd realized just how good Danny's hearing was. With the sharp snap the boy didn't bother trying to zero in on the other noise, knowing that it would heighten the irritating sound as well and that was really the last thing that he wanted.

Instead of listening he turned to his father's face. Jack always had extremely open expressions. Half the time Danny could figure out what was going on, on the other side of the call just from that alone, and right now, whatever was being talked about, wasn't good.

"What do you mean she got hurt?" Jack asked, his snapping coming to a halt for a second before it was back. "Was no one watching her? That suit wasn't even beta tested yet. What was she doing with it?"

A suit? Was that what his Dad was working on? Had one of his collage kids got hurt using it or had it been someone else?

"You know what, that doesn't matter. How is she?"

Whoever this stranger was, his Dad was obviously very worried about her. Danny could tell from the look over his face that if this 'suit' had messed up, it could have been very dangerous. Just what kind of suit was he making though? What type of project was his Dad working on?

With a long sigh the man rubbed at his eyelids, his head seeming to heavy for him to keep up on his own anymore.

"Just...give me a few minutes. I'll be right over."

As he ended the call his gaze fell back on Danny. The boy gave him a smile that was much to fake to fool anyone, but his father smiled at his attempt anyways.

"If you...if you disappear again, can you please just let me know that you're alright?"

Nodding his head Danny didn't think he could deny the simple request. "Sure Dad."

He wasn't ready for the hands on his shoulder or the sudden kiss to his forehead, but he wasn't complaining about it either as his father pulled back and smiled down at him.

"Just know that I love you son, and I'll be there for you whenever you need me."

"I know." Danny said, his smile small but real.

Smiling at his son one last time Jack than quickly gathered up a few things and left, no doubt gone for the night. With a sigh Danny fell back on the couch and dropped his head over the back of it.

(***)

"I'm so glad that you finally came back to your senses." Maddie grinned while Danny forced a weak smile over his own face.

"Ya me too." He lied, shifting the gun that suddenly felt much heavier than it ever had before in his hands. "I just can't believe that I had to be attacked first before I finally saw through its tricks." Although calling Nights an 'it' left a bad taste in his mouth he didn't have much of a choice if he really wanted to convince his mother.

Glancing around the dark streets he couldn't help but feel his nerves twisting his stomach as his head turned this way and that, his eyes peeled for the one ghost that he was actually looking for. He was really hoping that he would spot the boy first, at least that way he might just be able to get him out of sight before his mother saw him, or at least give the guy some form of a warning. Oddly enough however the streets were nearly bare tonight. Sure while there had been less and less ghost activity after the first large wave during the beginning of the summer, he hadn't seen any of them as of late. It was just plain strange, but his Mom didn't seem to notice anything amiss just yet, she was far to happy talking on and on about how right she was and how happy she was to have her son back.

Not for the first time was Danny thankful that Vlad had volunteered to stay home and keep them in touch with each other through the coms. While Maddie was distracted enough with her joy, he had no doubt that if Vlad had been around him any longer than he would have been able to see right threw Danny and could tell what was going on.

"You know for awhile I thought that I was going to lose my perfect partner." Maddie said, the earlier hype in her voice faded to a much more bearable level. "I'm glad that you're back Sweetie."

Her sudden drop in enthusiasm made Danny turn from the alley he'd been looking down to face her. Upon seeing the soft smile over her face he had to bite down on the inside of his mouth to keep from telling her the truth. He really didn't want to lie to her, but she wasn't leaving him with much of a choice. While it killed him he also wasn't about to stand by and let her hurt someone who didn't deserve it.

He just wished that she could see things the way he did. And it was aggravating to know that she was thinking along the same lines. They both thought that they were right, and both of them were willing to do whatever it took to make sure that their ideas stayed that way. Danny with lying to his mother, and his mother with with trying to kill Nights. While both used underhanded tricks they were last resort attempts at keeping their own ideas alive.

It killed him to lie right to his Mom this way, but if it meant that he could protect Nights he was just going to have to suffer through it.

Forcing a smile on his face not for the first time that night, Danny grinned up at her.

"Me too Mom."

(***)

By some miracle Danny had managed to drag himself to bed shortly after his Father had left. He wasn't even sure if he was tired mentally or if he just had so many thoughts running through his head as of late because his life had, apparently, turned into some kind of emotional roller coaster at some point, or if he was just tired physically, because as much fun as it was to use his ghost powers, they did take up a lot of energy and he'd used more of it today than he normally did doing nothing more than destroying a building.

All in all, sleep was a pretty welcoming experience tonight so for the life of him he couldn't think of what had pulled him out of it.

Rolling over on his side he could see that his clock read two thirty in the morning. While he was normally up at this time anyways running around to make sure that other ghosts were safe, he had no idea why his body had decided to get up even though he himself had no intention of going out and doing anything. He was allowed a break after all, he didn't have to go out and do what he'd started doing, besides, there was so few ghosts out and about now that he highly doubted that he was going to have to worry about it.

As he continued to lay there and glare hatefully at the inanimate object that sat on his dresser he was just about to roll back over and try to go to sleep once more when a sudden scream made him freeze.

It wasn't the scream itself that made the blood in his veins run cold, it was the fact that he knew just who it belonged to.

For a moment he couldn't move. He was frozen under the covers of his blankets like a child as they waited for the boogieman to swoop in and steal them away. It made him feel small and pathetic but if it really was what he thought it was waiting out there for him than it was so much worse than any monster or nightmare he could ever dream up. Taking a deep breath once silence had fallen on him again, he pushed himself out of his bed and got up on shaky feet.

His hand was shaking so violently as he reached for the door handle that he had to use both hands to open it, and even than it was still a struggle. Once he finally got the door opened he could feel the cool breeze from outside his room licking at the sweat that had gather on his brow and sent a shiver down his back. Biting down on his bottom lip he swallowed the small whimper that could have made it out as he forced himself to walk down the hall and into the living room.

No matter how many years had passed he could never forget that scream. He could never forget where it had come from and when it had ended. It haunted his nightmares, it tormented him during the day. He could never hear silence because that scream would echo around in his head until his ears felt like they might bleed and his lungs felt like they were filling up in a river of his guilt.

Even though he wanted to do nothing more than run. Even though he just wanted to stick his head under his pillow and block it out, he knew that he had to see where it was coming from. With the light from the TV being that only source for him to see by, he could tell that locating it was going to be the least of his problems.

His body felt numb, like he wasn't even in control of it as he dragged his feet into the living room once he saw what awaited him.

Playing openly on his TV was a video of a woman. She was strapped down, a countless amount of foreign instruments poking at her exposed insides from the surgical cut that they had sliced into her. She wouldn't stop screaming, cursing at the men who were ignoring every word spat at them.

She was screaming. Crying. Fighting against the bonds that held her down. Fighting against the people who were jabbing at her with different contraptions, contraptions that were causing the screams, contraptions that were making her body jerk and twist in agony. She was crying, calling out for someone. Anyone. For her son. For him.

Danny felt his body jerk as he choked, tears spilling from bright green orbs that he couldn't turn away from the horrendous scene before him.

They wouldn't stop. They wouldn't leave her alone. They just kept hurting her.

They just kept killing her.

The screen filled with static. Fuzzy black and white mixed together as the video cut out and Danny gasped for air, never quite sure wen he had stopped breathing as his knees gave out and he sunk to the ground. Any energy he had gathered from what little sleep he had fled in those few short seconds, leaving him at the mercy of whatever was going to come next.

Sooner than he was ready for, the video cut back in. At first is was a little shaky, as if someone was still holding it. It only lasted for a few seconds however before it stilled, showing off a large white room through a large glass window.

There was nothing really in it. Just white walls, a small, lumpy cot that had been pushed over to the side with way to many stains to count, and a rusty bucket that sat in another corner. It wasn't all just inanimate objects in the room though.

There was a child.

Pressed up tightly against the wall, stick thin legs pulled up to a tiny chest and head buried into bony knees, was Danny.

Danny could feel the ache in his jaw from clenching it so hard as he watched helplessly while the camera zoomed in on a younger him. It picked up his shaking shoulders and the dull glow of green blood that slowly oozed out of the places where his nails had dug into his arms.

The last thing in the room was the door. In all of the years that he had lived there, he had never once seen that door open. He'd lost count of how many times he had tried to open it, how many times he had tried to break it, but nothing would work. No matter what he did, it had always stayed sealed solidly shut. The only place on the entire thing that ever opened, was a small slot on the very bottom of the door that they used to give him just enough food to keep him functioning.

He could still remember when he had finally stopped eating. He'd just wanted it to be over, to be done with it all. While his body did shut down after awhile, he didn't actually die, and he had ended up waking up at some point hooked up to some sort of IV line that was forcing nutrition into his body. He'd never seen anyone enter the room at the time, but now he couldn't help but wonder if maybe it had been Vlad himself who had done it. It would be suiting that the man wouldn't just let him die when he had obviously had enough.

With those thoughts fresh in his mind, Danny tuned back into what was happening on screen.

The slot slid open.

At the memory of what he knew was coming next Danny raised a hand to his mouth as vile slid up his throat and almost slid through his fingers.

He hadn't been smart enough to know not to eat the food they had given to him at first. He remember just thinking of how hungry he was, and how the food would seem to come at the oddest of times. Sometimes one after the other, and sometimes it would feel like days. He remembered it being rotten on occasion. He swore he could still smell it on every now and than and it made his mouth go dry. Sometimes if was fresh, and he remembered enjoying it immensely until he realized that the fresh food was the stuff they normally spiked and he would spend hours hunched over the bucket, heaving and throwing up, shaking as his body tried to get rid of whatever they had slipped in.

This time...this was something they only ever gave him once, something that still made his heart hammer and his whole body reel in disgust as he tried to push away the memories of what it had tasted like out of his mind forever.

His eyes widened in horror as he watched his younger self freeze. Stifling his cries as he bit down on his hand. Finally seeing his face for the first time Danny couldn't even see himself in the boy on the screen. He was to small, to pale, his cheeks were sunken in, his eyes held no life, he was to small, to weak, to young. But he kept watching as the smaller boy kept his gaze fixed on the food that had just arrived.

It was gooey, and glowing, and he remembered a time when his parents had laughed together as they fed it to him.

Ectoplasm. That's what it had been. He could barely remember his mother's face anymore, his Dad wasn't ready to have pictures of her around yet and Danny wasn't cruel enough to ask, but he could remember her telling him about this type of food source as if it had been burned into his brain.

Apparently all ghost would eat it from time to time. It was their main food source and it was good for them to get their energy levels to peak conditions. They even had special little farms and everything in the ghost zone. It was like fruit or vegetables, and occasionally even shaped as such. It was a different form of ectoplasm that had no connection to the ectoplasm they were made out of. It wasn't like it was cannibalism.

These guys had never been there though. They knew about it sure, they knew a lot about the ghost zone in somethings, but they had never been there. They had never been to the harvesting areas. They had never made anything with it, they didn't even know you could make anything with it. They had gotten theirs from somewhere else.

Someone else.

Danny raced to the bathroom and emptied out his stomach before he could watch himself take handfuls of what was left of his mother.

Wiping the back of his mouth he panted, resting his head against the rim of the toilet as he forced himself to take in beep breaths. He would never forget the taste of it, as much as he wished he could forget it, as much as he wished there was a way to block it out of his mind forever he could never managed.

He hadn't know. He hadn't known until years later when Vlad had finally allowed him to see people for the first time since they had stolen him away from his loving family. He remembered the feeling he had when he found out. He remembered the anger. The disgust. He remembered falling to his knees and screaming over and over that it wasn't true. That it couldn't be true. He remembered the smile across the man's face as he recorded the reactions he had, writing down what ones were human, and what ones could have possibly been ghost like behaviour. He remembered the rage building in him as he watched that stupid pen marking everything. That stupid pen that was recording the evidence of what he had done. He remembered the sudden power that had hit him out of nowhere. He remembered the sounds of his own screaming, he remembered it like it was a dream, like it hadn't happened to him. As if he had just been in another place at another time and hoping it was a dream, a nightmare.

In the other room however the evidence of what he had done played over and over again. The sounds of himself almost greedily devouring the small portion of food that they had given him after leaving him with nothing for days made his stomach heave all over again.

His head spun before he was leaning over the toilet and every muscle in his body seemed to tense as he tried to force it to give up what it didn't have, nearly choking himself in the process.

Shakily he got to his feet. He felt like he was on autopilot as he pulled on the leaver and watched as the dirty water swirled until it was gone, quickly being replaced with fresh water before he walked away. Moving over to the sink he yanked on the tap, cold water spilling from it that he splashed on his face and ran his fingers under.

Everything seemed to be numbed as he shut the water off, his mind feeling empty as he just stood there, staring at his reflection but not seeing anything. The light in his eyes dimmed the slightest as the whole video started over. His Mother's screams filling the empty space around him and numbing him even more.

Almost as if he was truly dead he made his way back to the living room, his feet feeling heavy with every step he took as he got closer and closer to his goal.

Kneeling down in front of the TV he mindlessly clicked the button, bringing her screams to an abrupt end as the DVD popped out of the player, the light playing on its shiny surface and appearing to make it wink up at him innocently.

For a moment he just knelt there, staring off into nothing and allowing himself to sink deeper into the silence that he had been hoping for the moment he had opened the door. The screen was a solid black, the buzzing of electronics the only thing that echoed around the room now while he continued to leave himself frozen in time. Finally, after what seemed like hours but could have only been a few minutes, his bright green orbs dropped down to the object in his hands.

It was plain, simple silver DVD that could have been bought anywhere at any price. He'd bought them at dollar stores on occasion when he wanted to copy down some episodes of a show he use to watch. He knew that there was no way he could trace it either. He was smart, but he would be the first to admit that Vlad was smarter. If his disadvantage wasn't obvious before than it was sure blindingly obvious now. Vlad knew just the right buttons to press, but what was he playing at? Where was he hoping that this would lead to? Why would he bother tormenting the boy if he was just going to leave him where he was?

The longer he stared at the object in his hand the more he felt the rage inside him build. It built until it was seeping out of every pore, his eyes blazing with a new rage that would seem alien to most humans, a hatred that had no equal.

He didn't even know when he had started screaming, he had no idea when he lost his mind and destroy nearly everything in sight. The DVD had been blasted, the TV had been thrown across the room, the player had been smashed against the wall, the walls and couch were left with scorch marks and torn open, the wall revealing plaster and wood, stuffing spilling from the couches as the hard backs kept it from crashing to the ground.

By the time he was done the place looked like a battle zone, torn and broken, much like he was, and the more he looked at it, the more he hated it. The more he hated all of it. All of the people who had run test on him, who had tortured him. All of the ghosts who had rated him out. All of the ones who had known and let it happen. All of the people who hadn't known and had no idea about the things that he had suffered through, at the things that he just had to wake up and smile everyday for people he didn't cared for and knew nothing about.

The feelings seemed to burn through him, blocking out all rational thought as his throat closed and his breath became laboured, his whole body shaking in pure fury as his fists shook at his side. His whole body was filled with such a strong rage that it felt suffocating. He wanted to lash out at something-anything! He needed to destroy everything.

"What the hell!"

Whipping his head around to face the new voice he let out a snarl as the man jumped back from the door.

Danny had no idea what he looked like right now, but from the way the look of horror and the way the man shook and dashed back, running down the hall and screaming at the top of his lungs, he figured that he must have looked like he felt.

Like a monster.

With one wave of his hand he slammed his door shut, feeling the entire foundation shake with the violent movement. Still snarling to the empty air he stormed over to his bag, ripping out his jacket and throwing it on, flipping the hood up as he moved himself over to his window. Not even thinking twice he jumped out and took to the air the moment he was a few inches from the ground. Taking off to the skies he didn't care who saw him or what he was doing. He just knew that he needed to get out.

(FentonXPhantom)

"More cravings?" Danny questioned as he held his gun loosely at his side.

Box Ghost gave a nod of his head as he held the paper bag tightly to his chest.

Danny let out a long sigh, waving his free hand in the general direction that the other had been heading in originally. "You can go."

"How do I know if there is not some form of trickery to your actions?" Box Ghost questioned, his booming voice making Danny wince as he looked around for any signs of his mother.

Dear god if she found out he was letting some of the ghosts go...

"There's not!" He hissed in a whispered tone, quickly sliding up to the ghost with and planting a hand firmly over his mouth. "Now get out of here before my Mother gets back alright?"

The wide eyed dead man nodded his head frantically. It seemed that when he decided to give them a way out they didn't look a gifted horse in the mouth and would flee without to many questions asked. That was fine with Danny though, the last thing he wanted was for people or ghosts to know that his actions had been swayed by the one who had said he would protect them from hunters. Especially right now since he'd just told his Mom a few hours prior that he was back to true hunting again. He didn't know if the other spirits would get Nights in trouble for fooling around with a hunter, but he knew that if anyone other than Jazz, and Tucker apparently, realized that he was just playing them and that he actually was majorly crushing on a ghost than they wouldn't hesitate to throw him into the lab and run some tests to see what was wrong with him.

Groaning slightly at his predicament he rubbed at his eyes with the palm of his hands as another sigh slid passed his lips.

Well, at least tonight was mostly quiet.

"Oh Danny! There you are!" Maddie said, rounding the corner of the ally, her sharp eyes darting into every crevice in just a few seconds. "Did you get him?"

"Um..." How was he going to answer this one without giving himself away? "He, uh, he slipped passed me?"

Oh yeah, that was believable.

Her gaze on him was almost as cold as the one that she saved for the ghosts that they fought. He squirmed as she continued to watch him, obviously seeing through his lie but choosing not to comment on it.

"You know," she said as Danny joined her side, both of them walking back out of the ally as she rested the butt of her gun on her bicep, "they seem to have been slipping away from you a lot tonight. Are you sure you're not having second thoughts?"

Forcing a chuckle passed his lips he shrugged his shoulders, trying to brush off the statement as he turned his attention away from her and around the street.

"Of course not Mom. I'm not that stupid." He commented while she hummed at his side.

Nights better have appreciated this. If there was on thing that he absolutely hated it was lying to his family. He wasn't left with much of a choice however when they just flat out refused to listen to him. His Mom was so going to kill him after this.

Thinking of that idea he felt a frown pull at his lips as he wondered if she would hunt him if he ever died and came back. Would she be able to or would she stick him in a cage and call it 'protection'? What would any of them do if their loved ones came back? Did they always come back or did ghosts have a reason for staying here? That was something that he was sure ever ghost hunter wish that they knew but had never been able to figure out. If it was true though, than what was Nights reason for sticking around as long as he did? If he got what he came here for was he going to disappear off the face of the earth and go to where ever they went after? Did Danny want to allow him to leave? What if Nights never could and he was stuck in this kind of afterlife forever? Was the afterlife bad? Did some ghosts wish that they weren't in it anymore?

All the questions that he had never bothered to think about before seemed to come crashing out of nowhere as they continued on their ghost hunt. He wondered if Nights would answer any of the questions if he asked. While he'd had no doubt that the ghost teen would have before, he didn't know much about it now. First things first, he had to find Nights, and than get him to trust him again, and than...ya, ask him a bunch of privet questions about how ghosts and whatnot worked. He had a feeling that if he started off with these questions right after he was done getting Nights to see that he wasn't a threat the other might think that he was really just trying to work for his Uncle. That just wasn't going to work. Maybe he could write them down and than ask them a few months later. Granted that neither of them were killed by his Mom or his Uncle.

"Oh look Hun!" Maddie squealed as she pointed to the device which her gloved fingers were wrapped around with her other free hand. "We're close to another free roamer." She said, seeming to be delighted in the idea of going after something else. No, not thing, one, someone else. "This time though, don't let them, 'slip away'."

Lips twitching downwards in a frown Danny pulled out his gun and got it ready. Nodding his head to his mother they both took off, following the path of the unsuspecting ghost that hadn't gotten the memo that hunters were in the area. When they ended up at the park and the ghosts came into sight, Danny felt his heart stop and his mouth go dry upon what he saw.

It was Johnny and Kitty, but they weren't doing anything. They were just sitting there at the water fountain, gazing up at the stars as Kitty pointed out constellations that Johnny would than try to look for. Shadow was ever curled up at their feet, resting his head on his hands with a lazy smile over his face as his eyes nearly slipped closed.

They were on a date. It was late, no one was out that they could bother. If they had been living people, Maddie would have left them alone, they would have let them enjoy the private moments that couples got to have when they went searching for solitude.

They weren't living though, they weren't living and so it was the job of the hunters to attack them, to attack and capture them where they could than run all sorts of tests and than maybe release them, if they were lucky.

Never before had Danny ever felt so disgusted with himself than in that single moment of watching the two dead teens hold each other close and whisper sweet nothings.

It reminded him way to much about the fact that Nights' parents had probably been like this too. Before they were ripped away from one another forever.

What they were doing was wrong...

"Kitty! Johnny! Look...!"

He didn't even get to finish before his mother fired a well aimed shot at the centre of Johnny's back, making the poor boy cry out in pain as Kitty shot up and turned to them. Her green eyes were narrowed as she raised her hands above her head and shot out a ball of ecto energy straight at them.

Quickly diving out of the way Danny managed to roll to his feet, being sure to stay low as he dropped behind one of the many park benches. With his gun out at his side he watched the fight go on between them, his eyes glancing to Kitty, who was standing over her boyfriend, and Johnny, who was trying to pick himself up with the help of Shadow. His sharp blue gaze moved to his mother who stood there firing at them. No real reason behind her actions, nothing that could justify her going after these two at this moment.

He understood they were trying to protect people, but Nights was right, there were good ghosts and bad ghosts. There were ghosts that had to be watched and ghosts that would be fine to wander around aimlessly without supervision. Just like humans, because they were human.

Hanging out with Nights was the best thing that ever happened to him. Before, doing things like this had been easy. Before he hadn't questioned if ghosts were good or bad. Before he had just assumed that they were all bad and he had been fine with it. He didn't have to question his actions. Now that seemed to be all he could do, and all because of one guy.

A sudden powerful blast that seemed to come from nowhere made them all jump. Each of them breaking out of their battle zones and turning their eyes to the skies, the only place that the shot really could have come from. Danny's gaze however was more drawn to the destruction left in the wake of the sudden attack. The hole that was left smoking with small flames that licked at the sky from inside, was as wide as Danny was tall and if he stood in it, it would have reached his knees. As he turned his attention towards that skies he could feel goosebumps crawl along every inch of his body.

He found himself swallowing loudly at the sight of an enraged Nights peering down at them with a light mist of green still wrapped around his fists.

Never before had he ever felt so threatened by the mere presence of another ghost, let alone Nights out of all of them. If Danny had thought that he had looked angry last night however it was nothing compared to the pure malice that pretty much poured off of him in waves. Sure he wasn't close enough to see what little expression he could from the others face, but he didn't have to see it, he could feel it, and he knew that they were all about to be in really big trouble.

"Mom!" He shouted out, trying to get her attention.

She ignored his cry, raising her gun at the last one she should have been aggravating. Kitty and Johnny on the other hand appeared to understand that now was not the time to be hanging around, and used her distraction to slink off unnoticed by the female hunter or the other ghost.

Feeling his heart hammer in his chest as he watched his mother pull back on the trigger his body moved on its own and jumped at her. Grabbing her arm he pointed the weapon towards the ground, both of them closing their eyes for a split moment as chunks of the grass went flying everywhere, a deep crater gouging out the space and leaving nothing in its wake. Maddie snapped her head around to face him, her mouth hanging open as he felt a stone drop in his stomach. He hadn't even been thinking. Now, regardless if he got Nights on his side or not, his Mom was never going to trust another word out of his mouth.

But he couldn't let them hurt Nights. He wouldn't let them hurt Nights.

"Danny, why...?"

"I'm sorry Mom."

Trying to be as gentle as he could while still using enough force, Danny shoved his knee against her stomach as he ripped the gun from her grip at the same time. He was sure it was more from shock than anything that she let go and he wasted no time in throwing it to the ground. Pointing his own gun down at it he blasted at the muzzle and the trigger, rendering it completely useless before he removed all of the ammo from his own gun and than tossed that as well.

He wanted to show Nights that he was completely unarmed, that he wasn't going to do anything to hurt him. Shoving the bullets into the pockets of his jumpsuit he put his hands up in the air while he turned his full attention towards the other who was pulsing a dull green from his entire form.

"Nights!" He yelled, hoping that his voice was carrying up to him even with the wind whipping in his face. "Nights please calm down! We need to talk!"

"He's not going to listen to you!" Maddie shrieked, grabbing a hold of his arm and yanking him back. "How many times do we have to tell you Danny?" She said, her voice sounding on the verge of panic as she tried to pull him to a safer location now that they no longer had their best weapons. "Ghosts aren't like us, they don't..."

"Don't what?"

Both of their heads whipped around at the sound of the voice that sent chills down their spines. Danny felt his mouth go dry as he easily pulled his arm out of his Mother's shocked induced, loose grip.

Nights was pissed.

He didn't know why, or what over, and ya sure, he supposed it could have been him being related to Vlad, but it felt much to...dangerous for something like that. No. This was a type of anger that was made from years and years of misuse and abuse. This was so much worse.

"Don't feel emotion?" Nights continued, not needed them to answer his question as he took a step towards them. "I suppose that would be making us way to human for your liking hm?" The hiss in his voice actually hurt to listen to, but Danny found that he couldn't move as he stood stalk still while the other continued to advance on him.

"Nights I..."

"Shut. Up."

Without a second thought Danny snapped his mouth shut. This wasn't the Nights that he had grown attached to over the last few months. This wasn't the Nights that had played video games in his house and had teased him relentlessly for the passed few weeks. This was a Nights that he had never met. This was a stranger that had been made from years of isolation and abuse. This was a stranger that he couldn't read. Nights was still in there he was sure, but he wasn't leading.

"Get back." Maddie took a step in front of her son, glaring at the ghost before her even without a weapon in her hand.

Her bravery only seemed to amuse the other as a wicked smirk curled at the corners of his lips.

"You know if those words had been enough than my Mother would still be here."

Acting quickly Danny shoved his Mom out of the way seconds before she was hit by the large ecto shot that Nights had aimed at her. Growling the ghost turned his attention to Danny himself, his eyes blazing with such a bright rage that it was actually painful to look at. Still, he wasn't about to back down. He had to help if he could. This wasn't Nights, and if he did anything when he was like this, if he hurt anyone, Nights would never be able to forgive himself.

And like hell Danny was going to let him fry his Mother.

"Nights listen..."

"What have you got to say that I haven't heard before?" Nights snapped, his teeth clicking together loudly as he zeroed in on Danny, storming towards him until they were only a few inches apart.

Danny found his mouth opening and closing, unable to come up with one thing to say that he wasn't sure would set the other off. There were so many things that he wanted to say, but all of them were stuck in his throat, leaving him to choke as the one before him waited.

"That's what I thought."

Before he even had a chance to react Danny felt a hand hit his chest seconds before he was knocked off his feet and sent flying back. He hit the ground hard, knocking the air from his lungs and leaving him gasping before the momentum rolled him back a few more times. By the time he came to a stop he was laying flat on his stomach, his head in a spin and his whole body aching in various places. With a groan he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, giving himself little time to get over the head spinning as he clumsily got to his feet.

He hadn't really been expecting that. While he figured that Nights might attack him, thinking it would happen and having it actually happen was quite different than he thought it would be. This...this was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

It didn't help with the fact that Nights was also a ghost. With his energy so keyed into anger it was surely the only thing that he was feeling right now. Danny had no idea how he was supposed to change that.

Hearing his Mother curse loudly from a ways away Danny quickly snapped back into action. For a moment he almost regretted taking his Mother's gun from her. It would have given her more of a chance at fighting against Nights, but she was very good at dodging too and the shots were sure to only irritate the other than do any real damage. Still, he had to get them away from each other, but how...

"Hey Nights!" He shouted, grabbing said boy's attention as he whipped his head around to face him with a mouthful of snarling, sharp teeth. Pulling the thermos from his side Danny opened it and than pointed it at the other.

There was a single second of shock over Nights' face, as if all of his anger vanished in that one moment and he was just Nights again. As quick as it was there though it was gone, and within the next few moments a feral scream tore through the park as he dug his nails into the ground, leaving deep gouge marks and torn up grass behind in his wake. In the end nothing was enough to keep him from being sucked in and Danny wasted no time in clasping the lid shut the second it was done.

His panted breathing sounded so loud in the sudden silence that Danny couldn't help but wince at it. This had to be the worst idea ever, and Nights was going to kill him once he let him out, but for now, at least he had him away from his Mother.

"Give me that."

He almost did lose his grip on the thermos when Maddie tried to snatch it away from him, but his grip tightened and he yanked it back towards his chest and away from her quicker than she could blink.

"Danny I don't have time for your traitorous actions." She snapped, making a move to take it again and failing thanks to Danny moving back from her faster. "I need to get this to Vlad."

"You have no idea what you're doing." Danny said, his eyes narrowing as the object in his hands grew warm. "Mom if you would just listen to me..."

"We don't have time for this right now." Maddie interrupted as the warmth in his hands grew to the point of being uncomfortable.

"They're not what you think Mom. He's not what you think. This isn't...OW!"

The thermos dropped from his beat red hands and landed on the ground with a solid thud. Both Maddie and Danny found their argument coming to an end as their eyes were drawn to the metal containment device. It had never done this before, and Danny felt his stomach grow heavy at the thought of what it could mean.

There was no warning as within the next moment, the trap exploded. The energy that was blast forth from it was so strong that Danny found himself being thrown off his feet again. The roar of the initial explosion left his ears ringing and it took him a little while to recollect his surroundings again. The sharp buzz in his head didn't fade right away and left his vision a sickeningly dizzy world, but he still managed to shakily get to his feet, admittedly falling over a few times and not able to stand straight, but at least he was up.

From across the way he could see his Mother. While she was moving, all of her movements were almost sluggish and not done without a great amount of painful groaning. But at least she was still alive. That's all Danny could ask for.

Turning his attention finally to where the thermos had gone off he found the air escaping from his lungs at what was waiting for him there.

Nights was facing away from him, standing in the wide, but shallow, crater that the trap had caused. Thick red smoke curled around him like a loving pet, leaving most of his body unseen as the dull green glow around him grew brighter. When he slowly did turn to face Danny, the ghost hunter could feel his a strong source of panic fill him up to the core at the abyss that greeted him in the hood.

"I suggest you run."

He didn't wait around for anymore encouragement.


	28. Chapter 28

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 28

It was horrifying to realize just how much Nights had been playing with him and his family up until this point. While Danny knew that the other obviously wasn't weak by any means, the amount of power and skill that he had was such a sobering reality that Danny's mind almost felt numbed by how much Nights would have had to hold back whenever he was fighting any one of the other hunters.

As it was now Danny had managed to find a place to hide, or at least, he hoped that he was hiding. There were so many times when he'd thought he'd found a good hiding place only for Nights to find him seconds later, so he wasn't really sure if the other knew where he was and was just toying with him or if Nights really didn't know that he was crouched behind a garbage bin only a few feet away. Still he wasn't sure just how long he had.

He'd been hoping that maybe he could tire the other out. Maybe, if he could keep Nights chasing after him long enough, all of the power that he was using would eventually drain him and Danny would finally be able to get in a word. So far he wasn't having much luck with his master plan. At all.

The thing that freaked him out the most though, was that Nights had yet to say anything since he told Danny to run. A quiet Nights sent tremors through his whole being. He was so use to Nights' constant chatter, his flirty remarks, his need to comment on everything, that this silent stalker sent an eerie chill down his spine. It truly felt like he was being hunted. Never once in his life had he thought of how terrifying it would be to be on the other side of the game, but now he could understand how all of the other ghosts he had hunted over the years had felt. It actually made him feel guilty all over again.

Nights' head made a sudden tilt, as if he was listening to something far off, something that he apparently didn't like if the snarl that came across his lips seconds later was anything to go by. Danny carefully watched from the shadows of his hiding place as Nights turned on his heels and took off into the sky. Letting out a long breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in the others presence, Danny slowly stood up. His bones cracked as he stretched out, not use to having to hold one position with such little room for such a long amount of time. He didn't have much time to savour it though. Whatever it was that had distracted Nights wouldn't keep him busy for long, Danny had to move now if he was hoping on finding a new and better place to hide.

Thankfully he'd already picked his next hiding spot and it was the building of which he was currently next to.

Casting a weary glance around his surroundings Danny quietly slipped out of the alley he'd been in. Pressing his back against the wall to prevent Nights from sneaking up behind him he edged along it until he reached the door. The fact that it was abandoned was glaringly obvious by the state of the door that was nearly falling off its hinges. It was perfect really, if Nights did find him, Danny would have nowhere else to run, and if there weren't any people around to get caught in the cross fire he was going to count that as a bonus.

Pushing open the door he winched at the long whine that followed. He didn't dwell on it, instead just choosing to duck into the building as fast as possible. Inside was nearly pitch black, and not for the first time in his career was Danny glad that they had night vision installed in their goggles. Turning it on he carefully made his way deeper into the building, the smell of mold and mildew strong enough to make him want to gag. Even without touching anything he could tell that the area had a heavy weight to it, almost like everything had been soaked to the core and than left to rot. Ignoring it he quickly found a semisolid looking staircase and made his way up.

It wasn't until he was on the third floor that he chanced a look out the window and into the alley he'd been in before.

He didn't see Nights there, and for some reason that made his blood run cold. Sure while it could have been that Nights found a different place to look or had simply given up his search, Danny highly doubted that he was that lucky.

He felt the breath on the back of his neck seconds to late.

A hand on the back of his head slammed him face first into the wall. Hard.

Danny let out a pained yelp, his legs buckling underneath him at the sudden pain. He managed to use it to his advantage though, dropping to one leg while the other one kicked out in a sweeping motion, knocking the one behind him to the floor. A thick cloud of dust swirled up around them both, nearly choking him, but he managed to push it aside as he lunged at the one who was quickly gathering himself back up.

Straddling his waist Danny grabbed a fistful of Nights' jacket and hauled him off of the floor a few inches. There was no way that he was going to be able to talk some sense into the ghost teen, not until he'd beaten him enough to make him listen anyways. Landing a punch across the others face that left his hand stinging even with the cover of the leather glove, Danny let go of the boy as he hit him again with the opposite fist.

Although the attack left Nights in a slight daze, it wasn't enough to make him stop fighting against the hunter and before Danny could blink Nights disappeared beneath him. Cursing he jumped to his feet, his body tilting for a moment as his brain was still trying to recover from the first head hit. Taking in a deep breath he got himself ready for where ever the next strike was going to come from. His eyes quickly shot from one place to another, his feet dragging along the ground behind him as he moved back to make sure he wasn't about to trip over anything. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes, knowing that they would be no help in this situation. Instead he listened. Listened for the smallest movement of sound. Listened for the sudden shift in the air.

A few seconds later he was rewarded for his patience.

He could hear Nights attack moments before the other even became visible. Grabbing a hold of the hands that were probably meant to wrap around his neck, he used the others momentum to spin them around and throw him into the wall. The whole building shook, and Danny had a fleeting thought about the stability of the place he had chosen before a knee was shoved into his stomach and all thought, along with his air, was gone. He gasped, trying in vein to get his air back and just managing to block a hit that was meant for his head. Nights growled at his efforts, losing no speed as he instead spun around until his back was to Danny's chest and shoved an elbow deeply into his stomach.

Being winded twice in the time span of a few seconds Danny staggered back, falling down to one of his knees as pain bloomed in this gut, the sharp elbow and bony knee somehow managing to hit the same place and leave him with nothing more to do than to zero in on the area. He managed to push the thought back just in time to drop to his stomach and roll away from a kick that would have landed square against the side of his head.

Thrown off his balance from missing his kick Nights gave out a small hiss as he waved his arms around for a moment in an attempt to keep up. Grabbing a hold of the back of his knee Danny gave him a hard pull. Being his last leg to stand on Nights crashed to the ground again and let out an enraged howl. Ignoring the fury that was pouring off the other Danny quickly placed his knee against the others chest and grabbed a hold of him again with both hands.

"Nights! Nights you have to listen to me! I don't want to fight you!"

All he earned in return was a sharp cry of rage that made his ears feel numb.

He had no idea how to do this. He didn't even know what to do. Nights was so far gone in his anger that it left Danny stunted. He didn't know how to reach him and he was starting to believe that Nights didn't have a bottom to his power source right now, and if he did, he wasn't going to stop using it until he faded. Nights was to angry. He was to angry and hurt and scared, and Danny didn't know what to do.

The realization that maybe there wasn't anything he could do hit him hard.

Maybe he was already to late. Maybe he couldn't help Nights anymore. He hadn't been there when Nights needed him most. He had no idea what even set him off this badly, but he had seen first hand what happened to ghosts when they targeted one emotions to strongly. At this point Nights was going to kill himself, and there was nothing Danny could do to stop him.

Danny bit down on his bottom lip as a sob threatened to be torn from passed his throat.

"I'm so sorry Nights." He whispered, his throat to tight to make the apology any louder. "I don't know what to do." Admitting it out loud made his eyes glaze over and a few tears slip down his cheeks. "I knew about your Mom." He wasn't even sure why he was saying anything else. It wasn't going to help. At the very least it would only make Nights even more angry. "I knew what they were doing and I didn't...I never thought that she had someone, that she had a family. I'm just..." He had to bring his hand up to his eyes, trying to wipe away the tears with his heel. "I'm so sorry."

"Get off of me."

The voice startled him, concerning that he had heard nothing but growls and nearly animal like screams for the past few hours it was almost surreal to hear. Blinking back the tears in his vision Danny stared down at the one underneath him. Nights wasn't staring at him, all of his attention was on trying to remove Danny's knee from his chest, but Danny could see his eyes. It was such a drastic change from the deep black nothingness of the hood that he found he couldn't tare his gaze away from the glowing green orbs even if he wanted to.

"You know if I could go back and change it I would." Danny admitted, but Nights was bluntly ignoring him, trying even harder to move the other off.

Instead of allowing him to do so Danny slid his knee over until both were sitting on either side of Nights' chest. The ghost teen let out an enrage cry of frustration, but this time Danny ignored it as he placed his hands gently on the others cheeks, finally drawing his attention upwards.

"I swear that I'll never let anything like that happen to you again okay?"

He didn't know if it was because of what he said, or if maybe Nights had come to his senses just in time, but he could feel how weak the other was right now through his hands as he tried to keep shoving Danny off of him. Nights was trying to get Danny to move because he couldn't phase through the floor, because he couldn't do anything. If Nights had continued in his mindless rage for even just a few more minutes...he would have faded.

A waterfall of tears poured down his face, he couldn't even stop his lips from stretching into an open mouthed frown no matter how hard he tried. His shoulders shook with sobs as he reached down and tightly wrapped his arms around the one beneath him. Nights gave a low hiss, but didn't fight against it as Danny squeezed him impossibly closer.

After a moment Danny could feel hands pushing against him, but it wasn't the action that caught him off guard so much as it was that he could feel the shaking in the fingers. When he pulled back he could see a sharp frown over Nights face, but it wasn't one of anger and he only had a few seconds to see that unimaginable hurt in his eyes before it was lost as Nights brought both of his hands up to press the heels of his palms against them.

"Stop it." He hissed, his words sounding just as choked as Danny was. "Stop pretending you care. I can't...I..." Nights didn't finish as his teeth clicked shut, his jaw so tense that Danny was surprised that the bones didn't crack.

His words knifed deeply into Danny's heart however and he gently ran his thumb underneath his eyes, wiping away where tears had started to gather.

Jazz had said that Nights would probably think that he was working for Vlad. So than he must have thought that everything that Danny had said, everything that he had done, was just some kind of act.

Leaning down he placed a soft and fleeting kiss to the boy's forehead.

"I'm not pretending Nights. I never was."

"Stop it!"

Before he could react Danny found himself being flipped around and two hands tightly wrapped around his throat. His hands moved without him even thinking, reaching up to grab at the others that were invading his area to help loosen the hold.

"You don't think I don't know how this works? Do you think I'm that stupid!?" Nights snapped, his tears dripping off of his cheeks and landing softly on Danny's face. "I've trusted the lies of hunters before and look where it's gotten me!"

Danny let out a choked gasp as the fingers around his throat tightened. Instead of trying to pry the other off he reached out and grabbed the others hood. Yanking Nights forwards Danny pressed his lips against the boy's firmly. When Nights' grip slackened in shock he took what little time he had to gasp out something quick.

"Trust me."

When Danny dropped himself back against the damp floor he was shocked that the hands didn't follow. He took a few moments to gulp down some much needed oxygen before he bothered to move his gaze over to the one who had yet to move. It was odd to see Nights so still. His eyes glowed brightly from the depths of the hood and nearly lit up the whole room. It was like he was in shock, like he didn't know what to do or if moving would break some sort of invisible barrier that was between them.

So Danny moved instead.

As he sat up he slowly moved his hands up to the neck of his mask. With careful fingers he pried it off, holding it out once it was done and showing it to the stunned male before him. Without a word he tossed it carelessly to the side, watching as Nights eyes followed it until it landed in a heap halfway across the room.

"I was born into hunting." Danny said. "But it wasn't my choice."

It was as if his words had been in another language. The look in Nights' eyes gave away his flabbergasted confusion as they snapped back and forth between Danny and the abandon article of clothing.

"I'm making a choice now Nights." He said, placing his hand under the others chin to draw his attention back to his face. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Nights let out a small gasp, his chin wavering as his whole body shook. He was still fighting with himself. He was still confused about what was going on. So Danny made it easier for him to understand what he meant and tightly wrapped his arms around the other.

"Just breath Nights." He mumbled. "You're okay."

The body in his arms shuttered, and that was the only warning he got before Nights finally broke.

He had no idea what had lead them here. He couldn't even begin to imagine what had set Nights off first. It wasn't like him to just lash out like that. He'd never done it before no matter how hard the hunters went after him, so to imagine that there had been anything to get under his skin like this was absolutely terrifying. Even when Nights had been seconds away from fading by Danny's own Mother, he hadn't done a thing to try and save himself. He hadn't tried to kill her, he hadn't tried to take him with her to the afterlife, so just what had it been? Someone had prosperously pushed him to his emotional limitation, and Danny had a twisted feeling in his gut that it had been none other than Vlad himself.

"What happened?" He whispered, his heart breaking when the boy in his arms shook, soft sobs racking his thin form almost violently.

He was nearly crushed when Nights finally hugged him back, almost losing every breath of air he had and needed desperately as the ghost cried on his shoulder. His tears were hot as they seeped through Danny's shirt and sent a chill on his bare skin when the nightly breeze fluttered by them.

"I-I-I didn't mean to!" Nights shouted out, nearly making Danny's ears ring at the close proximity of them. "I never would have- I didn't think-! He won't leave me alone Danny!"

Danny couldn't help but gasp when the fingers wrapped around his back dug sharply into his skin and briefly he wondered if maybe he was going to start bleeding soon. He pushed the thought away though as he tried to figure out just what it was that Vlad had done.

Just what had Vlad done to break someone like Nights so completely? Nights didn't listen to anyone, how was it that Vlad got him to do something he didn't want to do?

"It's alright Nights. I won't let them hurt you." He cooed gently, running a hand over the boy's tense back with feather light touches. "You're going to be okay."

Nights didn't seem to be able to form anymore words as his sobs continued to echo around the room, knocking gently on the walls before they would turn back to the boys and rip into Danny's heart a little more each time.

Even though it was for Nights' own good, he knew that he was lying. There was no way that he could assure that Nights was going to be okay. The only thing that he could promise at all was that he was going to do his best to make sure that he kept the monsters away to his full capability. All he could do was offer his comfort in the only way that he knew how and to keep Nights from slipping to far just as Nights had done for him.

Watching his cocky, headstrong, bold enemy being reduced to nothing but tears by the mere presence of his... of Vlad, Danny could feel his head start to spin as he wondered just how many ghosts he had done this to over the years.

It was no wonder that Nights had fought against them so strongly, it was no wonder that he had spent all of his time trying to free the spirits from the two who spent all of their time catching them. He didn't want his fellow ghosts to suffer the same things he had under the hands of the ones who had no mercy. Under the hands of hunters. Under the hands of Danny. The idea made him sick as he wondered just how many ghosts he himself had left this impression on. How many other spirits had he hurt so deeply that they would crumble under his gaze? The idea use to make him smirk. It use to make him smile in pride when he would watch them turn and run away before he even got close. Now, seeing the aftermath of something he had contributed too...

"I'm so sorry." He said softly as he raised his hand to stroke at the boy's hood, slipping his fingers underneath the material in order to stroke soft hair.

Grabbing at the other boy's legs he gently pulled them up until he had Nights cradled in his lap, gently rocking them back and forth as he held the broken boy closer to himself.

If this was what he did to the ones that he hunted...

Danny narrowed his gaze, nearly being sick as he came to the conclusion of what a monster he was. How could he do this to people? Dead or not, they were still human.

Glancing over at where his mask laid, simply tossed to the side as if it hadn't been part of his very identity for years, Danny glared at the object. Deciding that Nights needed his attention more however he was quick to move the hand that wasn't supporting Nights' back to slid under the boy's chin. Lifting the hiccuping face to look at him he pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead before he rested their foreheads together. Soon Nights cries faded to nothing more than sniffles and deep gasps of air as he pressed the back of his hand to his eyes. Danny didn't say anything as he rested his head against the strong wall behind him, turning his gaze to the ceiling while Nights wiped away any evidence of his tears. He turned back to the boy when he felt a hand rest against his chest and felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips when Nights finally seemed to look at him.

There wasn't a trace of the rage he had been displaying earlier, no signs of madness in his red rimmed eyes as he peered out at Danny through the darkness of his hood, barely the outline of his face being able to be seen in the nearly non existing light.

"I-I'm sorry." Nights said, his voice sounding choked and tight as the black haired male shook his head, bringing his hand back up to rest against the warm cheek of the one in his arms.

"Don't apologize Nights. It happens, and it wasn't your fault." He said, his voice so soft it was barely heard above the silence in the room.

"I-I don't know w-what happened I just- I just..."

"Sh Nights." Danny interrupted pulling the other close as he rested his head back against the wall.

Nights seemed to listen to him, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, but the boy allowed himself to be cradled by the ex-hunter as Danny continued to gently run his hand over the top of his hood.

"I would ask you if you would want to come home with me, but I don't think it would be the right place right now." He muttered out absently.

He could feel Nights shoulders shifting as he shrugged against his chest before he spoke.

"We could just stay here. I... I don't really want to go home right now either."

Nodding his head in understanding Danny let out a small yawn, one that Nights copied only seconds after. It was cold out here, especially since night had fallen on them awhile ago and this place was full of holes, but he wasn't going to drag Nights anywhere unsafe, or anywhere he didn't feel comfortable going. So, even though his body shivered and goosebumps covered his skin from the cold, he simply held Nights closer and wrapped his arms around him a little tighter.

"What ever you want Phantom."


	29. Chapter 29

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 29

Danny was awoken by a painful throbbing in his head and on his face. He let out a groan, screwing his eyes shut tighter while he buried his face deeper into his mattress. When the mattress let out a grunt in response he found it odd. Since when did mattress make noise? Or move?

Realization slowly crept up on him, making him freeze from his head down to his toes as his whole body became unnaturally still. He didn't want to, but he knew that there was no way to fight against the inevitable and pried his eyes open to see if it was as bad as he thought.

The first thing he saw was the black jumpsuit of a hunter.

Shooting up, his stomach did a summersult while his heart rate skyrocketed. What on earth was Fenton doing here? Why were they..? How did..?

Quickly looking down at himself Danny let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that he was still fully clothed, and thankfully, so was Fenton. Moving his attention to around the area they were in he relaxed a little bit more to see that this place definitely wasn't clean in any sort of way. That was good news considering that he knew how clean they kept their labs and whatnot, so there was no way that he was in one of those.

But what was he doing with Fenton? Had he not been pissed at the guy just the other night? Was Fenton not working for Vlad?

Oh dear god. He should leave now while the hunter was still out. He wasn't sure what he was going to do next or what had even lead them here but...

As he turned to go through the door, something else caught his eye. He was shocked that he had noticed it at all, it wasn't very big by any means and just about faded into the floor. Still, he found himself walking over to it slowly and upon drawing closer he confirmed what he had thought.

Fenton's mask laid among the dust and grim of the floor, the auburn coloured googles pointed towards him accusingly.

In that moment, everything that had happened last night hit Danny full force, nearly knocking the air from his lungs.

He'd been woken up to the sound of his mother's screams. He'd lost his mind and gone looking for blood. He'd attacked anyone that was to close. He really went after Fenton's Mother this time. He'd tried to kill her. He'd tried to kill Fenton.

Fenton had been the one to stop him, apologizing for things that Danny could see now, weren't his fault in the first place. He hadn't fought back when Danny had started to strangle him, hadn't tried to break out of the others hold. He'd kissed him, and told Danny to trust him. He'd held Danny when he'd finally broke, with no trace of fear that he would attack him again. He told him that he wouldn't let anything happen to him.

He'd called him Phantom.

There were so many emotions hitting him all at once that it left Danny's head in a spin. He wanted to run away and never come back. Fenton knew who he was, he'd seen just what Danny was capable of. Would he hate him for that? Danny knew that he himself was ashamed of the way he had responded, he had no idea how Fenton could be so forgiving. At the same time as all of that though, he also wanted to stay glued to Fenton's side. He didn't want the other to leave him behind, and he didn't want to leave Fenton behind. He wanted to curl back up with him and just sleep forever. Sleep until all of the nightmares finally went away and the world wasn't such a shitty place.

With such conflicting thoughts in his head however he was torn on what he should really do. Half of him wanted to bolt, but the other half refused to move from where he was.

Fenton was willing to give up everything for him, and they hadn't even known each other all that long. He was willing to turn his back on everything that he knew just because Danny had told him that things could be different. How could he put that much faith in him? Not even Danny had that much faith in himself, and yet, he was willing to follow after him.

When the one he was thinking about started to shiver from his exposure to the cold Danny found one side winning out as he quickly flew back over to him. It was exhausting to create even something as simple as an ecto blanket, and he couldn't help but wonder just how much of his energy he had used up yesterday, but when he laid it out over Fenton and himself it was worth it to see the other finally stop shivering.

Not knowing what else he could do he nuzzled his way closer to Fenton until he was comfortably placed under the others chin with his arms wrapped around the ex-hunters waist. The darker haired male made some sort of incoherent noise, somewhere between a murmurer and a groan, and wrapped his arm around the other, pulling Danny even tighter against him.

Danny didn't mind, even through the thick suit the other wore, he could feel the chill creeping off of him and he was happy to do whatever he could to keep Fenton warm. After all it was his fault they were still here in the first place. Being half dead Danny never minded the cold much. Half the time he could barely feel it, but even he could feel the cold seeping up through the floor they were laying on and he felt a whole new wave of guilt wash over him that Fenton had only stayed here because he'd asked him to.

He'd tried to kill him last night, and Fenton hadn't ditched him the first moment he'd got. Instead he'd stayed with him, even in the discomfort of the area they were in.

"Should have known you'd be a cuddler."

Lifting his head back up enough to be able to stare at the dark haired male he watched as Fenton's lips pulled up into a lazy grin.

"Mornin'." He said, his voice heavy with sleep as Danny found himself pulling away.

"Good morning."

Had the words not been such an automatic response he wouldn't have been able to get them out. He wanted to pull back further, but the arm around his waist kept him in place as Fenton's brows creased close together and a frown made it's way onto his face.

"What's the matter?"

Well gee. Where did he start?

Deciding to get the elephant out of the room Danny pulled off his hood. Even though he'd called him by his name last night Fenton still seemed shocked by the reveal of who was hiding in the darkness. Neither of them said anything, and for a long moment, they didn't even move. The stillness was broken by Fenton, unsurprisingly since he almost always was the one to do so, who slowly raised his hands. Danny had to force himself not to flinch or pull away when fingertips gently caressed his cheeks. It was a little odd. He was use to Fenton touching him by now, but he'd never noticed just how exposed he felt without his hood on to cover up most of his expressions. He closed his eyes when Fenton ran his fingers over his eyelids, only opening them again when he moved them over to his bangs and than around to his ears. It was like he was trying to map out Danny's whole face with just touch alone. When his finger nails scratched gently at a place just behind his ears he couldn't help but snicker, his noise making Fenton smile as well.

"Hey." Fenton grinned, as if they were just seeing each other for the first time.

Danny didn't know why but he found a bright blush coming to his cheeks as a small, somewhat shy smile twitched at his lips. "Hi."

"I knew that blush would look adorable on you."

Scowling as the words only made his blush brighter Danny pushed the others face away, earning a lighthearted laugh from Fenton.

"Okay I'm sorry." Fenton snickered, grabbing a hold of his hand and gently removing it.

Danny arched his brow as his lips pulled down into a small frown while he studied the others face.

"I...How did you know that I was lying about having a twin?"

Shrugging his shoulders somewhat awkwardly due to half of his body laying on the ground, Fenton intertwined their fingers together.

"Well, if you did have a twin his last name would still be Phantom." He said while Danny gave a roll of his eyes.

"Come on Fenton."

"There were way to many holes in your story." Hunter continued. "And when I saw...when I saw Vlad again I remembered one of his older...um cases. I just figured that if a ghost could fall in love with a human than maybe they could have kids too. The more I thought of it the more I realized how much of you just...wasn't ghost like."

With that he traced his fingers over Danny's face again, the fond look in his eyes to overwhelming to look at and forcing Danny to instead drop his gaze to the others chest.

"I mean first off, your colouring was really off, but I didn't think to much about that since I know a few strong ghosts who are able to blend in with humans. But than you were warm and, you just feel alive. But you had ghost abilities so it didn't make any sense. But when you go around as Phantom you kind of make it painfully obvious."

"Hey." Danny grumbled, finally taring his gaze back upwards at the insult.

"Dude, you drew in my pictures with added detail I left out, mentioned the kiss behind the school even though I knew there was no one around to see it and you still had a hickey on your neck, and you always leave the class seconds before I did to catch ghosts and than 'Nights' appears. You also lead me right to your 'place of haunting' or should I say your apartment? Where I've found both 'Nights' and 'Phantom' living in the same place."

Grumbling lowly to himself Danny gave a huff and sat up.

"Fine, fair enough."

"No wait, come back." Fenton whined, no doubt missing the loss of heat that Danny took with him when he moved.

Chuckling Danny hoisted the other up, allowing him to be exposed to the cold even more and smirking at the sharp curse the dark haired teen let out. His smile was quick to fade however as his gaze drifted back to the empty part of the floor before him.

"I almost killed you."

A heavy silence entered the room, nearly crushing Danny while he mindlessly traced his fingers over the floor to try and help distract himself from the reality.

"Phantom..."

"I went after your Mom, you. I hunted you down and tried to..." He couldn't say it again, he didn't have it in him, and the words got stuck in his throat instead.

"Nights."

He bit down on the inside of his cheek when Fenton slipped two fingers under his chin and turned his head to look at him.

"You didn't kill me." Fenton said. "And I'd have to be some kind of idiot to not understand that I could have died last night."

"Than why didn't you lead me back to Vlad or your lab? Why didn't you just distract me and allow Maddie to get some more weapons? Why would you put yourself in danger like that?" Danny snapped, knocking the others hand away and glaring at him.

Regardless of his obvious rage, Fenton's face remained soft and patient. Danny found that he would have preferred if it was the hunter yelling at him from almost killing him. He would have deserved it. So why on earth didn't this seem to bother him? Wouldn't he miss his family? Wouldn't he miss seeing his friends? Wouldn't he miss living? Being dead wasn't all it was cracked up to be. If anyone should have known that it should have been the guy who spent most of his life, so far anyways, making sure that the afterlife for others was a living hell. So why was he being so calm about this?

"Why aren't you angry that I tricked you? Why aren't you angry that I lied to you and bothered you and played you? Why aren't you mad that I nearly goddamn killed you!"

"Nights."

Growling he scrambled off the floor until he was standing a good distance away from the other, glaring down at him because being angry at him was so much easier than trying to find out what all of this meant.

"You're giving up hunting! Because of me! Why would you do that!?"

"What else am I supposed to do?"

His question left Danny's mind in a blank. While he continued staring down at the other in his stunned silence Fenton slowly lifted himself off of the ground. Danny felt a whole new load of guilt being dropped on him as he watched the darker haired male's face twist into a wince at the pain that moving had caused him. For a moment he wanted nothing more than to run up to the ex-hunter and force him to sit down and allow Danny to worry about him until he was better. But he didn't trust himself to be to close anymore.

He could still feel Fenton's throat against his fingers. He could still remember squeezing as hard as he could to try and stop the air that the other so desperately needed from getting to his lungs. It was coming back to him clearly now. The way that he had gone after Fenton last night. Stalking him like the boy's fear was what he was really looking for. As if he wanted to prolong the chase if only to build up his hope and snatch it away the next moment.

How on earth did Fenton feel safe around him right now? How on earth had he been able to sleep next to Danny? Let along hold him in his arms? Was he not afraid of Danny losing it again? Was he not afraid of Danny ripping out his throat, or trying to choke him or...

"Nights calm down, you're going to hyperventilate."

Jerking away from the hand that went out to touch him, Danny gave himself a moment to get his breathing under control. He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed that. Just how much did he not notice was going on with him lately? If he didn't start getting things under control he was going to end up hurting someone he was close to by accident.

Just like he almost had last night.

The sound of a long sigh drew his attention back to the other. Fenton had his arms crossed over his chest, his head tilted slightly forward and an eyebrow arched, as if he was waiting for Danny to finish something. Danny eyed him warily as a smirk slid across the others face slowly before he gave a slight shake of his head.

"You are so easy to read without your hood. Your expressions give everything away."

"Can't you be serious right now?" Danny hissed, tossing his hood back over his head to block off anything else Fenton could see.

"When on earth did we switch places?" Fenton hummed, his attention drawn to the side for a second before they were back on the ghost before him. "Trust me, you're not the first...ghost, to nearly kill me Phantom. It's happened more times than I'd care to admit."

"But I..."

"Tricked me, and lied to me, and bla, bla, bla." Fenton continued, and Danny didn't even realize how close he got until they were only a few inches apart. "Ya I know, but look, I didn't give you much of a choice either alright? I mean I was a hunter and was constantly trying to catch you for my Mom. But I'm not interested in that anymore and I wouldn't have allowed it to happen, I wouldn't have done any of this stuff, if I didn't think that you weren't worth it."

"Oh my god." Danny groaned, dropping his head into his hands as he could feel a burning blush overtaking his face. "That's so sappy."

"But true." Fenton said, wrapping his arms around Danny's waist loose enough that if he felt uncomfortable he could still pull away. "You were just trying to protect yourself Nights." He continued. "I can understand that. Besides, you weren't...you, last night."

"But that's a part of me." Danny muttered. "And I don't know how to keep you safe from it."

He could feel the others strong shoulders move in a shrug as he finally pulled away.

"We'll just have to figure that out together than won't we?"

Why did everything that this guy do leave Danny stumped? Was this how Hunter had felt when he'd first paraded into his life as 'Nights'? How on earth had he put up with it for so long? Although he had a feeling that this was much worse than anything he had ever done to the other. Fenton was being so...sincere. He truly cared about what happened from here on out, and he was going to be in it for the long haul.

Danny let out an undignified squeak when his hood was pulled down once more and his face was exposed. It was strange, he'd never had a problem with people seeing his face before, most of the time he went around hoodless anyways, but it just felt different when he was around Fenton. Maybe it was because every time before now, whenever he'd appeared as Nights before the other, he was always able to hide behind his cloak for darkness. When he was just Danny, Fenton never paid much notice of him. Now that he knew that Danny was both it left him feeling a little...exposed.

Fenton gave a small chuckle at his expense however as he gently cupped the boy's cheek in one hand, his thumb barely leaving a feather light trace against his skin.

"You shouldn't feel so bad anyways Nights." Fenton said, his eyes seeming to be more focused on the boy's skin rather than Danny himself, only making the boy's uneasiness spike. "I got in a few good hits on you too."

"I heal fast." Danny mumbled, the response pretty automatic. When Fenton finally tore his gaze away from his cheek to stare into his eyes, a tight frown pulling over his face, Danny felt himself shift in place from discomfort. "What?"

"You've got bruising on both cheeks, and a black eye."

"Oh."

Well, that explained why his face and head had hurt so much when he first woke up, and why Fenton was being so gentle with him.

"Wow. Um..." Biting down on his bottom lip he raised his own hand up to poke at his cheek, hissing when it was followed by a jab of pain. "Right." He mumbled, giving a roll of his eyes. "I used up to much of my energy last night. I probably wiped it all out. Don't worry, once I get some back it'll be gone in about an hour. Until than it's just gonna heal...normally..."

It felt weird to describe any part of himself as normal, but if he had used up his energy, and he was guessing that he had, than none of his ghost abilities were going to work. Come to think of it, he'd probably used up whatever energy he had gathered from sleeping last night by making that blanket.

Totally worth it.

"How are you not completely wiped than?" Fenton asked, looking the boy over as Danny itched to pull his hood back up. "I remember the last time that you used up a lot of energy and got beat bad. You could barely drag yourself across the street."

Letting out a sharp chuckle Danny rubbed at the back of his head for a moment. "I'm still part human Fenton, and this is...it's a lot to take in. I'm pretty sure I'm just running off pure adrenaline at this point."

Humming his understanding Fenton grabbed a hold of his wrist and dragged him back over to where the blanket laid almost forgotten. When he went to take his first step he nearly stumbled, and Danny was starting to guess that he was about ready to blackout again. Even if he was using adrenaline, it was obviously fading quickly now.

"If you're still tried don't you want to go home and sleep in your own bed?" Danny found himself asking as he was gently pulled to the floor again.

For a long while Fenton didn't say anything, seeming more occupied in laying them both down and making them as comfortable as he could. They ended up laying on their sides, staring at one another and Danny had almost forgotten that he'd even asked a question as his eyelids grew heavy and the fatigue he'd been ignoring took hold. When the hunter cleared his throat though he forced himself to pay attention as he struggled to keep his mind sharp and awake.

"I'm not looking forward to going home right now. My Mom's going to kill me when I tell her I'm done with hunting. I just want to stay here for a little longer. I like it here."

"It's cold, and wet, and it smells, and the floors hard, and there's enough dust in here to make a dust bunny colony." Danny pointed out as his nose twitched in disgust. "What's to like about it?"

Fenton chuckled at him, his whole face lighting up as if Danny had said something really amusing while the other frowned at him. He blinked in surprise when the darker haired male swooped in and quickly stole a peck from Danny's lips before he pulled back and smiled at the stunned male.

"I like it because you're here."

Now Danny really wished that he had his hood to cover his face because he was sure it was absolutely beat red. If the way that Fenton started snicking at him was anything to go by he could only guess it was so much worse.


	30. Chapter 30

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 30

Danny still felt drained as he made his way through the streets of Amity Park later that night. Both him and Fenton had ended up sleeping way longer than they had meant to. Sure when they had woken up the first time it was already midday, which was pretty reasonable considering how tired they were and that they had stayed up well into the morning, but now it was pretty much midnight. Not only had they both missed a day of school, but everyone they knew was going to be freaking out. He didn't even know if he had enough energy to try and explain himself to his father right now, but he knew that the man was going to kill him the moment that he saw him. That or he was going to burst out into tears. Danny knew which one would be worse.

Letting out a long sigh he came to a slow stop, leaning his shoulder against the building he was next to as he rubbed a hand over his face. He winched, the bruises apparently hadn't finished healing just yet, but brushed it off as he wondered what was going to happen to Fenton.

His family was nuts sure, but they loved him. They weren't going to do anything to drastic were they? People did all kinds of crazy things in the name of love, what if they decided that trying to brainwash him would be an act of love and a saving kind of thing? Just what had he gotten the guy into? He'd really wanted to tag along. Even if he would have been invisible and would have had to keep quiet, if only to make sure that Fenton was going to be okay. But the other had brought up the good point about how the shield was no doubt going to be up and that it would have been safer for Nights to avoid a house full of hunters in his current state.

He hadn't been able to argue much with that and instead reluctantly headed home.

"Danny?"

Dropping his hand to his side he threw a look over his shoulder. He couldn't help the frown that pulled at his lips when he saw not only Val, but Tucker as well. Never once since he'd started hanging out with her did he ever see those two hanging around together. So what were they doing now? Especially since Tucker no doubt knew by now that Fenton had gone missing and should have been out looking for him.

He found his mind being drawn away from that when he took a closer look at his best friend. Her eyes were red rimmed and blood shot. Smudged make up made the bags under her eyes look darker than they actually were and really highlighted the red. Even her normally perfectly placed hair was sticking up at odd angles and appeared as if she had brushed it in the last few days. Or like she hadn't seen a bed either for that matter.

Concern pushed away his confusion of Tucker's presence as he moved himself away from the wall and turned to face her fully.

"Val? What happened to you?"

An odd mix of a growl and a screech escaped her as her hands made a strangling motion towards his neck. Surprised by the action Danny gave a bit of a jump, briefly remembering the conversation he'd had with Tucker months ago about just how scary girls were when they were angry.

After a moment she snapped her attention away from him, turning so fast on Tucker that the boy let out a small yelp.

"I've got him. You just tell Jack and go check on what's happening with Fenton."

"Uh, ya, right." Tucker agreed, nodding his head along with her orders. He quickly gave the other a wave with a bright smile which only severed to confuse Danny even more. "I'll see you later Phantom."

"Bye?"

Just what on earth was going on? Did Val just say Jack? Like his father Jack? Val knew his Dad well enough to call him by his first name? Since when? As far as Danny knew the only time that she had ever seen his father was when they were introducing themselves all that time ago. Since when were her and Tucker on such friendly terms?

Just what on earth was going on?

He didn't get much time to ponder over his questions as Val narrowed in on him. He had about two seconds to fear for his life and think of an escape plan before she was marching up to him. When she was only a few feet away he gave up any attempt to get out of whatever was coming up next and instead gave her the most sheepish smile his tired body could muster.

"Ya so sorry I missed school the last few..."

"Can it Phantom!" Val snapped, jabbing a finger so hard against his chest that he was sure it was going to bruise. "I've been looking for you everywhere and you just disappeared off of the face of the earth! You're dad was so worried! He even got my father to look for you and the others too!"

Others?

"So where on earth were you!"

Danny found his mouth falling open when a tear slipped from her eye and down her round cheek. She quickly wiped it away, but he could see how glossy they were, he could see how hard it was for her to try and hold back.

"Valerie?"

"I was so worried." She sniffled, turning her head to the side as she wiped at her face again. "When I saw what happened to your house...and than Tucker told me that he...when he went to visit Fenton and he..."

Danny wasn't ready for the extremely hard shot to his arm. "OW!"

"And than you disappear all day! What the hell you asshole!? Couldn't you have at least called to say that you were okay!?"

"I'm sorry!" Danny yelped, holding his hands out before him as if that would be enough to stop her from laying another one on him if she felt like it. "I'll make sure to contact you some way next time okay? I promise."

"Just don't disappear again and it won't be a problem." She grumbled, her arms crossing over her chest tightly while Danny ever so slowly lowered his arms.

The two were silent as they continued to stare at one another. Danny had no idea why she was freaking out so badly. He'd just missed two days of school and was gone for a night. She didn't know just how bad that could be. Sure while he shouldn't have been skipping school and he should have messaged someone last night for all she knew he was just being a rebel or something. She didn't know that it could mean that he was being hunted and would most likely never be seen again. So why was she so upset? Than again maybe there was something else going on that he wasn't quite getting.

"What happened to your face?" She asked after a beat, and he found himself reaching his hand up to touch it without even thinking about it.

"Uh," Really what could he tell her that wouldn't be an absolute lie? He didn't want to lie to her if he could help it. "Do you know if my Dad's home?"

Now that he was thinking about it his Dad was going to be freaking out. The last time that Danny had gone missing this long both him and his mother had been kidnapped. They had been missing for years before his Dad managed to find him again and before Danny could tell him that his wife had died two years ago.

The man was probably hysteric.

Although Val didn't seem very happy with the sudden subject change she didn't complain much on it as her scowl melted until it was more of a soft frown.

"Ya, we thought it would be a better idea for him to stay home in case you came back." She said while Danny quickly glanced up at the building as he bit down on the corner of his lip. "You better have a good excused for him."

"I doubt he'd want to hear it anyways." Danny admitted as he started walking backwards. "I'll see you later Val."

Not wanting to waste another moment and prolong getting home to his father Danny slipped into the alley he was next to. Before Val could follow him he quickly used up what energy he had stored and became intangible. Grunting with the effort it took he kicked off the ground and into the sky. He knew that he wasn't going to have much time, the longest he was going to be able to stretch it out right now was going to be a few minutes, but he was sure that he could make it back by that time.

It didn't take him long to find out that he was mostly right. At the same time that he saw his building coming into view he could feel the last of his energy leaving him. When he was a few feet away he could no longer keep himself invisible and he pretty much dropped out of the air and into the, thankfully opened, window. The next few seconds were extremely painful and he found himself wondering just how Fenton dealt with crashing into things and falling into things on a nightly bases without any type of ghost power to help cushion his fall or absorb the impact.

A gasp slipped form his mouth as he rolled onto his back, screwing his eyes shut for a moment and trying his best to push the pain away. Before he could really comprehend what was going on, two large hands had wrapped around him and pulled on him until he was sitting up.

"Danny!"

The cry of his father calling his name helped to sort out his scattered brain. With a quick shake of his head he turned his full attention to the man, giving his shocked face a sheepish smile as he tried to ignore his father openly staring at the bruises on his face.

"Hey Dad."

Seeing that his son was fine, for the most part, Jack slowly removed himself and allowed Danny to lean back on his own hands. He found himself thankful for his father's silence as he tried to use what little time he had to come up with anything that he could say that would make up for what had happened. Taking a quick glance around the room he couldn't stop himself from flinching at the same sight that he had left it in.

"Where were you?"

The tightness in his father's voice made a stone of guilt sit heavily in Danny's stomach as he turned back to face the consequences of his actions.

He opened his mouth, hoping that any sort of truth would come out of it to explain what had happened, but he couldn't come up with anything to say. He didn't want to tell Jack that Vlad had found them. He didn't want him to know just what Danny was up to when he wasn't home. He didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes if he told him that he had gone after a bunch of innocent people and ghost last night. He didn't want his father to look at him like a monster if he told him that he had eaten his wife. His own mother.

Danny couldn't find it in himself to say a word. He knew if he uttered even just one, everything would come tumbling out. And he couldn't do that. He was to weak to be honest with the man who had raised him. If his father turned away form him, if he left Danny behind...his world would be over.

"Danny answer me!"

his jaw locked when his Dad reached out and gave him a rough shake, drawing his attention from where it had slipped to the floor and back up to his face. "Where were you? Where did you disappear too? Why didn't you- why won't you...?"

Jack turned away from him, but it was to late. Danny saw the tears that had start to gather up, he could see the disappointment his father had for him. The fear that Jack was trying to hide.

He wanted to reach out. He wanted to hug his father and apologize for what he had done, but Jack's hands were tight on his arms and he couldn't move any closer, and his throat was to tight for the words to come out.

He'd been so out of his mind last night that he hadn't even given it a second thought as to what his disappearance could do to the ones he cared about. He'd made Val cry, he'd made his own father cry, and he was sure because of him Hunter's whole family was going to be in tears by the end of the day.

Maybe it would have been better for everyone if he just turned himself over to Vlad.

"I can't lose you Daniel." Jack said, his voice almost a whisper as he finally drew his attention back to his son's face. "I can't go through that again. I wouldn't...Can you please just talk to me?"

Danny couldn't. No matter how badly he wanted to he knew that he wouldn't be able to. His voice failed him and his tongue wouldn't be able to work. He couldn't force himself to say a word, no matter how badly he wanted to beg his father for forgiveness and apologize until his throat was dry. He just couldn't. It was as if there was some type of force that weighted down every part of him, sealing his words and giving him no voice to work with.

He couldn't tell him the truth, but he refused to lie to him. So instead he just shook his head, his gaze dropping from the soul crushing disappointment that Jack's eyes held.

The room filled with silence. Hanging thick and deafening in the air above both of their heads as neither one spoke, refusing to be the first one to break. Danny's hands clenched into fists tighter and tighter, until his knuckles turned white and Jack's shoulders dropped more and more. Their wordless conversation came to an end when older man straightened himself, giving the boy a stiff nod of his head, one Danny would have seen had his own head been tilted up at the time. He felt to rotten to look up at his father. To guilty over what he'd put the man through for his own selfish reasons.

"I'm..." Danny's throat closed before he could get the rest out and he found himself biting down on his lip at his weakness.

The word seemed to hang in the air for a moment, almost booming in the quiet that had gathered around them. The creaking of the floor boards came to a soft halt as Jack stopped by the doorway. A nearly soundless scrap could be heard as his hand slid down the door frame. Not a word was spoken though as Danny could feel his body becoming as tense as a tightened bow, waiting for anything his father would yell at him. Ready to be called an idiot for running off, a spoiled child for not coming back, an awful son for not telling him what was going on.

But nothing ever came. The soft shuffling of feet was the only indication that his father had left and he couldn't tell what was worse as his chest suddenly heaved and his hand came to his mouth to muffle any sobs before they could have slipped passed his lips.

(***)

Danny stared up at the house. For the last few minutes he'd been standing right outside, looking up at it as if it was the first time he was coming across it. The mask that he'd thrown to the floor the night before was clutched tightly in his hand, dust that he hadn't bothered to wipe off still clinging to the fabric like a second skin. It was almost surreal to be standing outside a place that he had grown up in. A place that had felt like home for so many years. A place where he had felt safe and loved.

How was it that now when he looked at it all he could see was a place of torment for resting souls?

Letting out a long sigh he took his first steps towards the door. Silently he opened it, peeking around the corner and taking a quick look around for anyone.

Thankfully no one was right there, which was nice. He really wanted to get what he had to say done all in one go and he'd rather not have to track them all down and get them into one place. Although it might have been better to tell them all one on one. At least that way they wouldn't be able to gang up on him quite as easily.

Still, all he had to do was say his piece and than he could leave. He knew that there was no way that he could hang around here once he'd finished telling his mother. Even if he might have only gave it a passing though he still wouldn't put it passed her to get him in his sleep and brainwash him back to 'normal'. The worst about that idea was that he was sure that she would think that she was doing what was best for him. She would only do it to save him from himself, because she couldn't understand how his mind had been changed so much so quickly. Not that Danny could blame her for that. His head still felt like it was spinning from all that he had learned in the past few months.

Ignoring the idea that everyone was no doubt downstairs in the lab, he instead made his way up to his room. Once he was there he wasted no time in packing a bag as quickly as he could, taking nothing but the essentials that he would need and grabbing out all of the cash he'd been saving up for years from his special hiding place in one of the many NASA models that he had built. Only when he was satisfied that he had everything he was going to need to get started somewhere else did he leave his room for the last time.

Heading towards the stairs he came to a slow stop as a chores of voices drifted up.

"I know we already checked that part of the city." He could hear Jazz say, her voice sounding tired but determined.

"Than we'll check it again." Sam snapped.

"I'm telling you guys that he's fine." Tucker put in and Danny finally started his way down the stairs to see what was going on.

He could see them all there. His Mom, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and...Vlad. Each of them was holding a map, each with a different place marked out on it. He almost felt bad, knowing that they had been running around all night looking for him, no doubt worried sick. He couldn't even blame them for being worried. Danny himself had been a little worried for his well being as well when he'd been chased by Nights. The guy had been completely out of his mind. But he'd been driven to it by someone who found delight in driving people mad and pushing them passed their limits. Narrowing his gaze he glared down at Vlad from the middle of the stairs, finding his body to stiff in rage to be able to take another step down.

How could it be that the man that he had spent his life idolizing was actually such a monster?

"You don't know that!" Maddie growled, turning on Tucker so fast that Danny felt bad for his friend.

Other than Jazz, Tucker was no doubt the only one that Danny could say would no doubt be on his side.

"You didn't see that...that monster! How do you know that Danny isn't out there right now? Ripped to pieces and..and..!"

"I'm fine Mom."

His voice caught them all by surprise. They snapped their heads around so quickly to see him that he was mildly surprised that their necks didn't just snap. He was met with mixed expressions of relief, worry and surprise. He couldn't really blame them for any of their reactions. He was sure that if someone he had cared about went missing and than just showed up again like nothing had ever happened he would have looked about the same.

"Sorry I'm late."

"Danny!" He mother didn't seem to waste anymore time as she ran up to him and collected him in her arms.

He choked when her tight hug squeezed out all of his air and lifted him off of his feet for a few moments. When he was finally placed back down he shook himself off of the friendly attack before he raised his eyes back up to meet with his mothers goggle covered ones.

"Hey Mom I have..."

"Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Maddie interrupted.

It seemed that since she now knew that her son was safe it was okay for her to start up with the scolding.

"Where were you? And what happened to that ghost that snatched you up? Where did he take you? What...?"

"Whoa, whoa!" Danny spat out, his arms raising in his defence as he gently pushed he down the stairs.

Getting the hint she moved until they had both reached the bottom. Once they were on the landing he gave a tight frown when they suddenly swarmed him. They were blocking off his only exit to the door, and he had a feeling that it might have been intentional.

"I'm fine." He muttered out, realizing that those words might have been just what they were all waiting for as a collective sigh escaped from them. What he said next however almost seemed to set them all right back on edge. "I'm done."

Careful blue eyes scanned their faces, stopping on the blank look of his mother as he tried to figure out just what was going on through her head.

"What do you mean you're done?" She asked, Jazz biting down on her bottom lip as her eyes darted from her mother to her little brother.

"I'm not hunting ghosts anymore." He clarified, ignoring the wide eyes of the ones around the group. "I'm done."

"My dear boy you can't..."

"I can't what Vlad?" Danny hissed, unable to hide his anger at the older man as he turned a sharp, malicious glare towards him. "I can't rip people away from their families and torture them for years on end?"

At the look he got in return Danny knew that Vlad could tell he wasn't just speaking hypothetical.

"From now on I'm choosing the ones that I thrown back into the zone and which ones will be fine to be left alone."

"Danny you're an idiot!" Sam hissed as she took a step forward, only being pulled back by Tucker's hand on her shoulder.

"Sam if he doesn't want to..."

"Hush Tucker." She snapped, knocking his words back as she kept her gaze on the dark haired male.

"You know that this town needs you to look after it. To keep all of the ghosts in check and make sure they're staying where they're supposed to."

"You know what Sam." Danny grumbled as he tossed the mask at her, not caring one way or another as she fumbled with it slightly before managing to grab a hold of it. "If that's what you think, than you can do it."

Turning his gaze away from his wide eyed friend he turned to his mother again and kept his gaze firm.

"That's my choice."

Silence filled the room. No one knowing what to say to anyone as they all watched the unbreakable team of mother and son. Never once had Danny ever gone against her words. Ever since he could first learn to walk he was also taught to shoot and everything that they deemed he needed to know about ghosts. He wasn't a child anymore though, and it was time for him to start making his own choices. From the look across his mother's face, even when it was mostly covered by a mask, he could tell that she knew that it was time from him to go his own way.

"If that's what you want Danny." She said, her voice tight as she her ever movement seemed stiffer than the last.

Nodding his head in agreement he didn't bother to spare a glance at anyone else before he gently pushed through them and headed towards the door. He made it out, apparently everyone still being to stunned to follow him, but shortly after he'd made it down the first few steps he could hear the door opening and someone running up to him.

"Danny wait!"

He found himself shock to see that it was Tucker of all people coming to stop him. He would have thought that Tucker would have been the one who would have been most on his side other than Jazz.

"Where are you going?"

Eyeing his best friend wearily Danny clutched tightly to the straps of his bag as he waited for the other to join his side before he continued walking.

"I don't really know." He admitted with a light shrug. "But I know that I can't stay there."

From the corner of his eye he could see Tucker biting down on the corner of his lip, and he couldn't help but wonder just what was going on with his friend. After they had walked a fair amount away from his house Tucker finally reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him to a sudden stop.

"Look dude..."

"I'm not changing my mind Tucker." Danny muttered, pulling his arm away with a tight frown over his face. "I like Nights, I refuse to hurt him or hunt him and I refuse to do so to any other ghost as well without a reason. It's not fair and it's not right." The bight green eyes of his best friend went wide at his confession. "I thought you of all people would understand that." Danny couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice if he tried, but oddly enough, his words only made a bright smile break out over the others face.

"Oh trust me, I understand." Tucker said, an almost creepily wide grin breaking out over his face as he placed a hand on Danny's shoulder. "I just...I have to show you something, but, don't get mad okay?"

Raising a brow at his choice of words Danny wouldn't help but wonder just what he meant. What would Danny get mad over? Was Tucker going to show him some sort of lab or something? If so he really wasn't in the mood for it.

"Tucker I just..."

"No dude." Tucker interrupted, giving a firm shake of his head. "You'll love this, I promise. But you have to trust me alright?"

Danny wasn't to sure if he liked the sound of that, but than again Tucker had never really tricked him before other than for jokes. If Tucker had something to show him than he owed him to see what it was at the very least.

Letting out a long sigh Danny gave himself a moment to look down at his feet as he thought over just what he was doing before he raised his head back up to stare at his best friend.

"Alright, what is it?"

The giant smirk that came over his friends face the next second set up a nervous flutter in his stomach as the boy threw his arm over his shoulder.

"You'll just have to wait and see."


	31. Chapter 32

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 31

The house had been quiet all day. It didn't help Danny's nerves any, the stillness in the air setting him on edge as he sat stalk still on his bed. After their first few words to each other, if he could even call it that, neither Danny nor Jack had spoken a word. It was unnatural for his father to be this silent. He was never this quiet for this long, but at the same time Danny couldn't say that he blamed the man any either. He had given Fenton the silent treatment when he'd been ignoring him for a little while. He'd just upped and disappeared on his father and than couldn't even give him a decent reason as to why. He wouldn't be surprised if his father never spoke to him again.

Sighing he rested his head back against his headboard. He hadn't bothered moving in the last few hours, doing everything that he could in order to try and gather up what energy he could after he'd dragged himself to his room. It was odd though, he never remembered a time when it took him this long to recover from anything, but he guessed that he also hadn't used up quite that much energy in a few years either.

Still, he was becoming restless.

But he didn't want to leave his room and run into his Dad either.

When his stomach let out a loud rumble he winced and turned a longing gaze to his door. Dropping his head back he ignored the slight pain from hitting it against the wall. Trying to turn his mind away from food he wondered what Fenton was going through right now. He really hoped that the guy was going to be okay and that he wasn't going to be in any sort of trouble or anything. He couldn't imagin just what it would feel like to have to turn against something that the people you loved believed so strongly in. Danny had never really liked hunters, but he hoped that even they wouldn't go so far as to hurt one of their own or keep him trapped.

Biting his bottom lip as his worry for the other gnawed at him he groaned and covered his face with his hands.

It seemed it didn't matter which part of his life he was thinking about, they were both messed up right now.

A nearly silent knock on his door made him jump out of his skin. As his door was cracked open he tried to calm his breathing down once he saw it was only his father. Jack gave him a small smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes, but Danny couldn't complain when the man could at least look at him again.

"I'm sorry." Jack said, inviting himself the rest of the way in as he softly closed the door with one hand while his other held a plate of steaming food that Danny couldn't identify from where he was. "I just thought that you might be hungry."

A loud growl from his stomach was answer enough and Jack gave a small chuckle as he made his way over to his son's bed. He carefully made himself comfortable on the edge of the single mattress before he handed the food over. Danny managed a nod of thanks to his father before his eyes dropped to what was on it. At the sight of freshly made pizza he found his mouth watering and before he even realized what he was doing he inhaled one full piece. When he was halfway through his second a moment later his Dad chuckled and got up.

"Just give me a moment I'll be right back."

Turning his full attention to the rest of the cheesy deliciousness that was before him Danny greedily swallowed it down, sucking the grease off his fingers as his stomach demanded more. No wondered he was taking so long to heal. He was completely empty. Not only was he tired to the bone, but he hadn't eaten a thing in nearly two days. His body couldn't just make energy out of nowhere.

He found his eyes being drawn back to his door once more when Jack returned, this time carrying the whole pizza tray in his hands as he sat back down on Danny's bed.

"Here."

"Thanks."

It had been his first word since he'd said hello to his father a few hours earlier, and his dad actually appeared shocked that he had spoken at all. Guilt hit Danny again as he took the tray, tapping his fingers on the side for a moment before he placed it down next to his side instead. Although he wanted to do nothing more than to devour what was left on the plate he couldn't eat with the twisting in his stomach.

They sat in silence for a long moment as he tried to think over just what he could say. What he could tell his Dad that wouldn't make him think that his son was a monster and deserved to be thrown away. Crossing his arms over his chest he sat back against his headboard and pulled his knees up close.

"Um, Dad I..."

"Don't." Jack's voice had suddenly become low and sharp, making Danny snap his mouth shut as he looked up at his father only to see that he was looking towards the door, pointedly staring away from the white haired male. "If it's not the truth, I don't want to hear it."

His stomach sank at that, the food he'd just eaten threatening to come back up as he bit the inside of his cheek and turned his head away.

"I don't know how to do this Danny."

The soft confession only made him feel worse as he took in a deep breath.

"I just feel...like somethings changed between us. Ever since we've moved here we've both been...distance, and I don;t know how to keep you safe anymore."

"Dad I..."

"I'm trying to do everything that I can." Jack continued, his head dropping down to rest in his hands as his shoulders gave a violent shake. "But nothing I do feels like it will ever be enough. You could still disappear at any moment. I wouldn't...I couldn't..."

Quickly bringing himself beside his Father Danny wrapped an arm around his Dad's shoulders.

He didn't have a choice. He couldn't do this to his father, he wouldn't be the one to break the man down like this.

"Dad...I, I need to tell you something."

(***)

Vlad growled lowly to himself as he snapped the DVD in his hands in half.

This had not been the outcome that he was hoping for. He hadn't wanted to lose Danny to the other side, and he certainly hadn't thought that Phantom would be able to control himself so well. He'd thought that he managed to push him far enough. He thought that he had broken him. The last thing he had predicted was that Danny would be able to calm him down.

Flinging the items against the wall his fingers curled into tight fists as his body shook in rage.

Phantom was supposed to fade. He was supposed to be reduced to nothing more than that vile goo. His body was supposed to die so that he could give it to her. So that he could bring her back. And yet he had failed. He was going to have to think of something else. He was going to have to look at it from a new angle. He needed this plan to work. It had to. He didn't have a choice.

The only thing he could count on now was his plan with the Manson girl. If he lost her like he had Danny, than he was just going to have to do this himself...

(***)

The silence in the room was heavy, the only sound being Danny quietly munching on his pizza while his Dad continued to sit on the bed and stare off into space. Maybe it was a bad idea to throw so much at the guy all at once. It was a lot to take in after all and with how quickly he'd gone through all the events he didn't blame him one bit for needed a moment to process all that the boy had said. Like hell Danny was going to break him out of his thoughts either. The longer that Jack was zoned out for the longer he had to try and come up with any bit of evidence that he could use to justify what he'd been up to the past few months.

When his Father let out a heavy sigh through his nose and brought a hand up to squeeze at the space between his eyes, Danny knew that his time was up.

"This is...this is why I didn't want to leave you alone for the longest time." Jack grumbled, moving his hand from rubbing at his eyelids to run through his hair. Danny found himself freezing in place like a dear caught in the headlights when the sharp blue gaze was suddenly shifted and zeroed in on him. "Did this boy have anything to do with last night?"

Swallowing down his mouthful Danny gave a shake of his head before his shoulders came up in a pathetic attempt at a shrug.

"No, not...not really." He admitted. "I, um, I did go after him though so he had to defend himself and that's how I got...this." Muttering lowly he waved his hand at the bruises on his face before he turned his gaze back up to his father. "But he stayed with me after, and he protected me from his mo... his partner when she tried to kill me and he's been keeping me away from everyone else so..."

It was harder than he thought to pick and chose what he told his father. He didn't want to really tell him everything, everything, but he could at least tell him most things.

His Dad eyed him suspiciously for a long moment and Danny could almost feel his gaze peering into his soul.

"So, just so we're clear, not only have you been sneaking around at night doing just what I told you for years not to do, you also formed a... friendship with a hunter to the point where he knows who you are and you trust him?"

"Um..." Danny bit down on his bottom lip as he thought over telling his Dad just what kind of relationship him and Fenton had. "Actually, about that...we're...kind of more than, friends."

"What!" Jack snapped, making Danny flinch as he put his arms in the air.

"Wait, just hear me..."

"You've been fooling around with a hunter!? A ghost hunter!? Do you have any idea how terrible that could end? How wrong it could still go? What if this is a trick Daniel? What if he's just...?"

"He's not!" Danny snapped, his voice coming out a lot sharper than he meant for it to, nearly yelling at his father. They both stared at each other with mixed faces of shock, Danny being the first to recover as he ran his hands through his hair quickly. "Hunter wouldn't...he's had so many chances to do anything to me, and he hasn't. He wouldn't even let me hurt anyone last night other than himself because he knew what that would do to me. I was out for blood last night. I almost killed his Mom, and he still helped me out even though that should have been the last chance I got from him."

Jack was oddly quiet while he spoke, but Danny couldn't have been happier for it as he kept his eyes on the top of his bed.

"I just...I don't feel like a monster around him, or a freak. I feel...normal. He makes me feel human. Fully human. He doesn't make me feel like the monster people have been telling me I am for years. He doesn't make me feel like some science experiment gone wrong. He gave up hunting." Danny muttered, wrapping his arms around his knees as he stared back up at his father, a new definite light in his eyes on Hunter's behalf. "He gave up something that he believed in for years, going against his whole family, for me. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

The room fell into a thick silence as Danny waited for the moment of truth. Really what had he been thinking? Telling his father that not only had he been messing around with the hunters behind his back, but he was messing around with one hunter in particular and for reasons other than to just piss them off no doubt wasn't the best idea. But he was sure that if he could just make his Dad see Fenton like he did than he would be able to see where his son was coming from.

When Jack shifted on the bed to face his son, Danny found his heart pounding so loudly against his chest that he briefly wondered if the man could hear it. Another thing that he hadn't really taken into account was how his father would feel about him taking an interest in another guy. Even when he had been in other cities and dated a few people, they had always been girls. Danny himself hadn't thought that he liked guys until he'd become so absolutely smitten with Fenton so it was never something he and his Dad talked about. After all, Danny himself had thought that he liked girls, but Fenton was just so...Fenton, and that's all Danny needed him to be.

When his Dad raised up his hand Danny flinched away instinctively. Jack still continued the motion however and placed his strong hand on his son's shoulder. Feeling a little foolish but still a little wearily Danny eyed his father carefully trying to read his face.

"He's a hunter..."

"Was." Danny corrected, watching the frown over the man's face tightening. "He was a hunter."

"And, other than last night,"

"To protect himself." Danny reminded while Jack gave a nod of his head.

"Right, but he never once tried to hurt you outside of that?"

At that Danny couldn't help the small burst of a laugh that slipped passed his lips. Tried to hurt him? Sure he had. Him and Fenton had both tried hurting each other at one point or another when they were each doing what they thought was right. They'd never tried to hurt the other passed anything other than maybe some bruises though. They were guys after all, and rough housing was a trait nearly all of them shared. It was more for fun than to actually hurt.

"Nothing more than horsing around." He admitted, unable to help the small smile that spread over his face at the thought of all the times they had grappled with each other. "It was more for show or fun than anything."

Jack gave a low hum at his words, his mind seeming to be somewhere else as he tightened his grip on the boy's shoulder.

"And you like this boy?"

Biting down on his lip Danny brought his hands up to wrap around his stomach, as if trying to protect himself from anything that could hurt him, his father included even though he knew the man never would. He wanted to tell his father the truth though, the man deserved as much after everything that Danny put him through. With a deep breath he looked up at his father once more, none of the fear that normally always hid in his gaze anywhere to be seen, only pure determination and knowing as he nodded his head.

"Yes."

A tight frown set over Jack's face again, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought before he slowly dropped his hand from his son's shoulder. Danny couldn't stop himself from fearing the worst as he moved his gaze to the bed and dropped his head in his heads. He might have just killed any relationship that he had with his father. He might have just broke any of the last strands of trust and respect that the man had for him. He could feel the dread creeping up on him, twisting his stomach and clenching at his heart while his blood pumped in his ears.

He didn't want to hear his father kick him out. He didn't want one of the last supports he had to crumble under his feet from his doing. He couldn't lie to him though and whatever the consequences were he was going to have to accept them.

"I want to meet him."

His head snapped up at that, his mouth falling open as he stared at the man who had stood back up to his full height with his thick arms crossed firmly over his chest. Jack was frowning still, but it didn't seem angry or disgusted.

"You're a good judge of character Danny. If you think this boy is good for you and he's going to be around however I want to meet him." Jack continued as he looked away at the door for a moment. "I'm going to have to show you something first however and it wasn't supposed to be until Wednesday night, but I guess now's as good a time as any."

If Danny had been able to concentrate on anything other than the fact that his Dad had accepted him and Fenton he would have wondered why his father wanted to show him something on the same night that Val also said she wanted to show him something. His mind was so over joyed at the fact that his father had barely seemed to bat an eyelash however that he could barely hear anything other than the pounding of his heart and his own choked laughter as he launched himself at the man.

Jack seemed caught off guard, but thankfully he was big enough that there was no chance that Danny and his tiny form could knock him over. Instead he just wrapped his arms around his son and couldn't stop himself from smiling at the small child in his arms.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Danny chanted, not knowing what else to say as he buried his face in his father's jumpsuit.

He'd thought that if his father hadn't freaked out over the whole, 'oh ya Dad I guess I'm gay' thing than he would have at least lost his mind to the idea that Danny was seeing a hunter, an ex-hunter now but a hunter none the less. He thought that his father would have either kicked him out, or moved them away again just to keep Danny 'safe'. He'd never once thought that his Dad would have wanted to meet the other.

"Just one more question Danny." Jack said as he pulled away and held his son out at arms length. "You said that he only found out who you were last night. Who did he think you were before than?" Jack asked, tilting his head to the side slightly as he raised a brow at his son.

Danny pressed his lips together and shrugged his shoulders before he clasped his hands together.

"The friendly neighbourhood ghost protector Nights?"

His Dad stared at him. Just stared as he processed what his son had said.

"Nights?" He repeated.

"Yeahhh. Not my idea, he came up with the name. I called him Hunter." Danny said, earning himself another brow raise from his father.

"You two have nicknames for each other?" He asked, a smile appearing on his face as Danny's went red. "I just thought you were calling him Hunter to me so you didn't have to tell me his name."

"Um, well, I can't use his name around other people and calling him Danny would get confusing after awhile and he couldn't know my name or else he would have known who I was."

"Wait," Jack muttered placing a hand on his shoulder and bending down until he was at eye level with his son, "his name is Danny?"

Danny couldn't help but just stare at his father for a moment. After everything that he had told him tonight that was the one thing that really seemed to throw him off? The fact that his son and the hunter both shared the same name? It wasn't much of an uncommon name after all, Danny was sure there were a lot of guys his age that had it. So why did it seem to matter?

"Ya? And he looks like a clone of me but with black hair and blue eyes." Danny explained, doing his best to describe the one he'd been hanging out with recently.

Jack's eyes went wide as he quickly shot back, a hand coming to cover his mouth as he seemed to be trying to think a few things over. Without giving the boy any warning he grabbed both of Danny's upper arms and shook him slightly, making sure he had his attention before he said a word.

"We need to go right now. I have to introduce you to the others and I want to meet this boy, but Danny," Jack said as he stared straight into the eyes of his son, "I want to meet this boy before you two spend anymore time together okay?"

"Ah, okay?" Danny repeated, earning himself a quick head nod before his father let him go.

He wasn't going to bother asking his father why. He had a feeling that the man for one reason or another would answer him in riddles. Still he couldn't help but wonder why or what the name had sparked in his Dad's memory.

"Come Danny! I have much to show you."

(***)

Danny felt his jaw dropping as he stood inside the doors of the seemingly boring office building. It had looked so normal on the outside. The last thing he was expecting to see was such a high tech lab with not only a bunch of people in lab coats running around, but also a fair share of freely wandering ghosts floating around as if they were completely comfortable to be there. Some of them were even going over notes with other scientist and others were even sitting on examination tables allowing the humans to look over them while others talked freely with people dressed up as hunters and the like.

Needless to say he felt as if his brain had just exploded at what he was witnessing before him. It was odd to see such a mix of ghost and humans getting along with one another and as equals no less. He'd never thought that something like this could be real, and yet here he was, standing in the place that was literately living proof.

Chuckling from next to his side made him turn to face his friend as Tucker threw an arm around his shoulder.

"Welcome to the Ghost Research and Relocation Center. Or GRR for short. We leave out the C when we shorten it." Tucker said with a shrug as he pulled Danny deeper into the building.

"I-what-you-when did..."

"Don't worry." Tucker interrupted while more and more peoples attention was drawn to the two. "I'll explain everything."


	32. Chapter 32

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 32

"You wanted to show me a giant...office building?"

Danny stood a few feet behind his father, his brow arched as he stared up at the bland looking building with little interest. He'd thought that his father worked at some sort of fancy collage or university. This place looked just like any other office building that filled the streets on this side of town. At his questioning however Jack's grin only grew wider while he ushered his son closer to the place.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Jack said, pushing open the front door and dragging the boy in behind him.

Danny gave a small chuckle at the words, knowing just how true that they rang in some cases. Once they had stepped inside however his amusement was cut short and was quick to be replaced by confusion. There was nothing after the first set of doors. Only a man sitting at a desk who only raised his head up to give them a quick look. When he saw Danny's Dad he gave a brief nod of his head and than turned back to his computer. Every inch of the space was white, the ceiling, the walls, the floor, and Danny could feel a sense of horror slowly creeping up on him as the familiarity of it reminded him of a whole list of things he'd rather forget.

He could feel his every muscle tense as he forced himself to keep going, following after his father even though every fibre of his being was telling him to bolt out of there. The food he'd scarfed down had really helped in bring back up his energy levels, and he knew that if he needed to, he would be able to use his ghostly abilities again and get himself out. The fact that something like that even crossed his mind though made him feel guilty as his shoulders hunched up to his ears. This was his Dad after all, and not once had the guy ever done anything to put him in harms way.

But what if his Dad was starting to doubt him? What if he was starting to think that Danny was going to become a danger to the people around him? What if he thought that the boy was losing the control over his ghostly half? What if this was all some sort of trick to get him to go somewhere to 'help' Danny? To make him 'better', to make him not so much a freak?

Although the idea was crazy, Jack had never had a problem with his ghost half before, Danny couldn't stop the thoughts from running rampant through his mind.

Jack came to a stop just outside the second set of doors, turning around so that he was facing the one who was trying very hard to not start freaking out. The smile over the others man's face helped to ease his nerves a little, but it didn't stop his stomach from doing flips.

"Danny, I want to welcome you to my place of work."

Without giving his son much time to response, Jack snatched the boy's wrist and pulled him inside.

Being shoved threw the doors didn't give the other a moment to ready himself, and before he could banish his earlier thoughts from his mind he was coming face to face with an entire lab of people dressed in lab coats and ghosts in test tubes and on examination tables.

He felt his breath catch in his throat, his tongue becoming useless as the site made nightmare after nightmare flash before his eyes. His whole body seized up, the place suddenly seeming much to small and much to big all at once as it spun and morphed until it wasn't the place that his father had meant to show him. Instead it was much colder, much darker, and he could hear people screaming in the background. His vision was closing in, black surrounding the blurry corners and seeping in until it was almost all he could see.

"Danny."

The soft voice of his father broke him out of his thoughts as he moved his gaze from what was around him to the man, trying his hardest to push everything to the back of his mind where he could forget it. Jack had a frown on his lips as he stared towards his son, but he didn't step near him, it was almost as if he knew if he did the boy would bolt. Instead he raised up his hands as if he was saying he surrendered. Danny could feel himself starting to calm down a little, could feel his heart beat slowing until it wasn't painfully beating against his rib cage but before he could truly get himself to relax and clam down an alarm on a nearby machine went off, making him jump out of his skin. A million unwanted memories flashed through his mind in seconds and he almost did zoom right out the door, hadn't it been for the fact that his dad quickly reached out and snatched his wrist.

"No Danny, it's okay." He said soothingly as he pulled the panicked young male against his chest, gently rubbing small circles over his back. "No one here is going to hurt you Danny don't worry."

That might have been true, but people were going to have to forgive him if he wasn't going to take kindly to being in a lab. He'd had enough bad experiences in one that if he didn't see another for the rest of his life it still would have been way to soon. Still this was his father's lab, and that had to count for something. He had to be safer here.

He wasn't a coward, but even the bravest of hero's had their weaknesses. This was one of his.

"No one is going to do anything to you son, don't worry. There will be no tests or examinations or anything. This is just our base of operation." Jack said softly as he pulled himself away from the boy for a moment, being careful to keep an arm around his shoulder as he walked them in a few more steps.

Danny couldn't stop his heart from hammering against his chest as his eyes darted from one place to another, never staying on one thing to long before they were distracted by something else. All of the noises and people dressed up in lab coats and the lights on the machines. All of it made his inner fight or flight sense stand on end and made his whole body tense. His father would never bring him here without a reason, but it really have better been a good one.

"Jack!"

Jumping at the sound of the voice that called to his father Danny could feel the hand on his shoulder tighten briefly as if it was to reassure him that he was okay and than the hand was gone and any comfort and stability it had been providing was gone with it. The man that jogged up to them however made Danny's eyes go wide as he took in who it was and he couldn't stop his mouth from falling open.

"Damon!" His father greeted with a large grin of his own as he nodded his head to the man. "I decided I would bring Danny in a little bit early. I thought it would be best not to overwhelm him with all the others here."

Others? Danny didn't have any time to ask his father what he meant by others before Damon, or Mr. Gray as Danny knew him jumped into the conversation.

"Well it's always nice to see my daughters best friend." He said, his smile never once wavering as he stuck a hand out to the boy. "It's nice to have you here with us finally Danny."

Danny found he couldn't speak as he stared at the hand. His eyes moved from that to his face and than to his father as he swallowed down the lump in his throat and dropped his gaze to the floor. This was the worst. He had no idea what was going on and found that he couldn't think of anything to say to the two men before him. The only thing that his mind could keep going back to was that he was in a lab. He was in a lab and he was just waiting to be thrown in a room or have needles pierce through him or to be tied down. It didn't even matter that these were people he knew and one that had raised him. In his mind they were slowly being replaced by tall faceless men in white coats that just wanted to hurt him and keep him locked away.

"Danny, Danny look at me."

The hand that was brought back to his shoulder suddenly felt to tight, he felt like he was choking in the grip that was meant to comfort. He could hear the two men talking to each other, or maybe they were each talking to him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying above the sound of the blood rushing to his ears.

He needed to calm down, acting out like he had the few days before only lead to people getting hurt. He wanted to too, but he found the more he told himself the harder it got until he was nearly choking on the panic and breathing became a struggle that he was trying in vain to make easy.

In the back of his mind he could hear another voice, this one younger and it cut through the noise of the other two like a startling light in the middle of the darkest part of the woods. Without even thinking about it Danny reached out, latching onto the source like a lifeline. It sounded familiar but he couldn't place from where and before he could comprehend what was going on he found himself zeroing in on their voice.

"What's your name?"

His name? That was an odd question. He knew his name, why did they need to know?

"Danny Phantom." He muttered, his nerves slowly becoming calm at the familiarity of it.

"What can you feel right now? Try and name four things for me alright?" The voice pressed as Danny gave a small shake of his head, his tongue quickly swiping at his dry lips as he thought.

He could feel slightly soft fabric under his fingers, or really curled up against his fingers as if he was clawing into it for dear life. He could feel the hardness of tile flooring underneath his feet, even with his shoes on. He could feel the warm air, from some sort of heater maybe, blowing on him from somewhere above. He could feel the warm and solid hands of someone holding onto his shoulders as if they were afraid he would float away if they didn't.

"Um, fabric." He mumbled, his mind slowly coming back to himself as he answered. "Heat, hands, the floor."

"Good." The voice praised, the hands giving a gentle squeeze before they spoke again. "Last question. Who am I?"

Finally snapping back to his senses Danny found his eyes going wide as he became lost in a pair of familiar, sharp, baby blues.

"Hunter?" He gasped, his hands tightening around the others sweater at the realization.

His mirror image smiled at him softly, moving his hands up from his shoulders to either side of his face as he gently made circle motions over his cheekbones.

"Hey Nights." He greeted softly, as if he was afraid of speaking to loud. "Glad to see the bruising's gone. Got your abilities back?"

"Fully charged." Danny said, grinning dispute the terror that had been coursing through him mere seconds ago. "What are you doing here?"

Hunter shrugged, taking a step closer until they were pretty much breathing the same air. Completely forgetting that his father was there and that they were in the middle of a lab full of people Danny made a small happy noise of content and briefly nuzzled the others cheek, earning himself a small peck in return.

"After I told my team I was quitting, I had to leave."

"What!?"

Any sense of clam he had managed to latch onto was shattered as he pulled back far enough to regather his barrings.

"They kicked you out? But..."

"No Nights, listen." Hunter chuckled, but there was something hollow in the sound that tore at Danny's heart. "I had to leave. I don't know what might have happened if I had stayed there."

"But, but that's your family. I didn't want you to...I'm sorry." Danny said, gripping at the front of his sweater and pulling him in closer. "Are you okay? Is there anything that I can do for you?"

He frowned at the small smile that lit up the others face a moment later followed quickly by a quiet but much realer sounding laugh. Honestly he didn't see what was so funny. This was serious. Hunter had abandoned his family, his friends, his very way of life. It was true that Danny had wanted him to join his side, but he didn't think that that they would really have to separate once he had done so.

"Don't worry about me."

"Don't give me impossible tasks." Danny muttered back, baring his fangs at the other for a brief moment.

Fenton didn't even bat an eye at the show of aggression, his chuckle only becoming clearer as he leaned reached out a hand to ruffle the snow white locks between his fingers.

"They'll come around eventually Nights, but I need to show them just how good ghosts are first. It's not going to happen over night okay? I'll be fine." Fenton assured while Danny gave him a tight frown. "Tucker was the one who brought me here. They have some spare rooms and they said that they didn't mind giving me one."

"Wait...Tucker?"

"Em, I was shocked too." Fenton said, taking a step back and sliding his hand down until it was wrapped tightly around the others, intertwining their fingers. "He gave me a quick tour though, would you like to see it?"

Danny really wasn't sure. He had no idea if he could take his eyes off the other right now and look around. He wasn't sure if he wouldn't just slip into another panic attack or not. But Hunter was here. Fenton wasn't going to leave him behind or throw him to the wolves. He trusted him. After all, he hadn't gotten rid of Danny yet and Danny had caused him enough grief to last most people a life time.

Tightening his own hand around the others Danny gave him a curt nod. He wasn't going to give himself anytime to back out. If he was going to do this than he was going to get it over with.

The smile that Fenton gave him nearly made his heart melt and threw him for a bit of a loop. He looked so proud, even at something that should have been easy, that would have been easy for anyone else. It was as if they were about ready to jump into the unknown with each other to save the planet from some type of meteor with no way of knowing if they were going to survive or not. That kind of look should have been saved for when Danny actually did something worth being proud over, not because he was being shown around a lab of his father's where he was sure that no harm would ever really come to him.

A feeling of sheepishness washed over him as he gave a low growl to himself and turned his gaze to the floor rather than look at the other for much longer. Fenton simply patted his head, probably picking up what had turned the others mood sour without him even having to say anything.

"Alright, first though I feel like I should introduce myself to your father."

Oh ya. Right. Shit.

Snapping his head back up to where his father had been standing this whole time Danny felt his whole face explode in pure red. His Dad, the man who had raised him, just had to be here for that. Great. As if dropping the relationship on him just a few hours ago hadn't been bad enough. Now he got to see it first hand. Did this count though? His father had said that he wanted to meet Hunter before they spent anymore time together. While they were spending time together right now did it really count considering that his father was standing right there?

Seeing the look on the other man's face Danny guessed it did.

Jack wouldn't take his eyes off of the ex hunter. He was watching him like a hawk. As if he was waiting for just the right time to swoop in and take him out. It made Danny's stomach flip because he recognized that face. It was the one that Maddie gave to him all of the time. The look of a parent watching someone that they wanted out of their child's life. He'd never thought of how chilling it would be to see it on someone else. To see it directed at someone else.

Either Fenton didn't notice the look, or he was just flat out ignoring it. Either way Danny could feel an air of tension gather up like storm clouds just waiting to release their downpour on the unsuspecting people below.

"Hello Sir. My names..."

"Danny Fenton." Jack finished, grasping the hand that was offered with a loud slap.

Danny winched at the sound and discreetly took a look at Fenton from the corner of his eye. The dark haired male was smiling, but there was an edge to that smile that hadn't been there before. He wasn't sure what to do other than just stand there. Whatever this was, it was between his Dad and Fenton. Stealing a look at Mr. Gray he could see that the man was giving Hunter a weary glance as well. If this was going to get more serious than Danny was sure he was going to have to throw himself in between both groups just to make sure that they didn't try to kill each other.

"Yes, my son Danny just told me about you." Jack said, any of his normally goof and carefree persona completely replaced with the critical eye of a parent. "You may call me Professes Phantom."

When his eyes travelled down to their interlocked fingers Danny felt his face flush again, but he refused to let go as he squared his shoulders and held his head up. Fenton was his lifeline right now, and there was no way he was letting go of that.

Other than turning his gaze back up to meet his son's however Jack didn't say anything. Instead he turned his attention back to the ex-hunter and finally released his hand.

"So Tucker brought you here hm?"

"Yes Sir." Fenton said, his voice a lot more guarded now as Danny squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"Well, I find this a little hard to believe. I mean you are Danny Fenton, one of the, if not the most well known ghost hunter around the globe." Jack continued, and suddenly Danny didn't like where this conversation was going. "In fact wasn't it Vlad Masters himself who trained you?"

Oh shit. His Dad knew way more about this than he thought. But how had his Dad known that Danny was THE ghost hunter. Danny had just mentioned that he was a ghost hunter. He'd never said that he had been bothering the most well known ones, so how had his Dad known who they were when Danny himself had only found out by accident? Fenton and his mother worked very hard to keep their identities secret. Than again if Tucker was here than that could have meant that he had told them. Still, it was no wonder his Dad had gotten a little weird when Danny had mentioned his name. If he knew who Fenton was and that he was in anyway affiliated with Vlad than he could understand why the man was acting so strange.

"Dad he had nothing to do with that when it happened." Danny tired, hoping to get his father's attention off of the one at his side. When it didn't work he let out a sharp huff and let go of Hunter in order to stand before him. That finally got the man to look as he stared down at his son, his eyes growing just a little wide. "He was my age when it happened. He had nothing to do with Mo...with what happened."

Jack's gaze softened, his eyes dropping to the side for a moment followed by a long sigh. When he reached out and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder the boy had no idea why it made his skin crawl. This was his Dad after all, it wasn't as if he was about to morph into Vlad at any moment and drag him off.

"I know son, but he was still raised by hunters. A mind set like that doesn't just change over night."

"It's been months." Danny tried, removing his Dad's hand from his shoulder and simply holding it. "If you don't trust him than trust me Dad."

Jack gave him a strained smile, as if it was taking all of his energy to just not start scowling.

"Danny listen," Oh that wasn't a good way to start... "I know that you...like this boy, but he was still raised a hunter and..."

"And I'm a half ghost, half human freak." Danny growled, his tone shocking his father into silence along with his words. "I spent four years in a lab being tortured by hunters, I spent years being hunted down by both humans and ghosts. If there's anyone's opinion you should take seriously it's mine."

The silence that followed after was thick with tension. He wasn't wrong though, and he wasn't backing down either. If his Dad wanted him to be here, than Fenton was going to be here too. Not only that but his father had just heard them talking about how Fenton had left home, where was he supposed to go if he wasn't here? Surely his father wouldn't be so heartless as to just throw him out on the street...would he?

Jack gave another long sigh, this time raising his hand up to pinch at the space between his eyes while he thought.

"Alright, here's what I'm going to do." He said, dropping his hand to point at the one over Danny's shoulder. "I do not trust you. I don't trust you in this building, I don't trust you with my son."

"Dad..."

"Let me finish." Jack grumbled, his gaze briefly falling down to stare at his son before they moved back up to Hunter. "So, you are not to be on these grounds without someone I trust to watch you. It can't be Tucker since you two are friends and I'm sure that will lead him to allowing you to do whatever you please. Further more I don't trust you living here so you'll have to go."

"Dad!" Danny snapped, his anger refusing to be ignored this time as Jack just placed a hand on top of his head without looking at him to move him out of the way.

"You will be moving in with us." Jack continued, his words stunning both males. "At least that way I can keep a close eye on you two and you in particular."

Looking at Hunter from over his shoulder Danny could see that he was just as shocked by his Dad's words as he was. He really hadn't thought that, that was what his Father would do. He figured that maybe he would find somewhere else for the guy to go or just kick him out all together with the way he was talking. While he could see where his father was coming from to an extent, even he had thought that Fenton was just tricking him for a little while there, he couldn't help but wonder if it was a little extreme. Than again if this meant that he could see more of Fenton than he couldn't see how it was such a bad thing.

"Do you agree to my terms?"

Danny couldn't help but snicker as Fenton had to shake his head to help jar himself into speaking again.

"If that's what will make you feel comfortable Sir." Hunter agreed, offering up his hand once more.

"We only have two rooms though, so you will be staying in mine." Jack finished as he grabbed a hold of the others hand tightly.

Raising a brow Danny shifted on his feet. "Why can't he just stay in my room? Wouldn't that make more sense?"

When both the fathers shared a glance at each other he quickly stole one of Fenton. Snapping his attention back to his father when the man turned back to him both boys jumped when he let out a bellow of a laugh.

"I'm not letting two hormonal teenagers who are attracted to one another to stay in the same room, that's just asking for trouble. I mean who knows what you could get up to if I left you alone."

A long, long silence stretched out at the end of his words. It seemed as if the whole lab had gone silent and Danny couldn't help but remember that it was full of people. Had they actually attracted attention or did this all just seem so much quieter in his head? Surely they had better things to do than to watched and listen to their small group. Than again his Dad was one of the leaders of this place and he was sure that Mr. Gray was up there as well. It also probably didn't help that Danny had started to have a panic attack nearly the second that he'd been forced through the door. What if they were all listening than, and openly watching? God, had they heard everything they had been talking about? Had they all been watching his and Hunter's encounter with rapid attention?

Man, and he'd thought it was humiliating before...

Humiliating or not however the overwhelming sense of fear was taking a hold of him a lot faster. Every second that passed by, the smile on Jack's face slowly, slowly contorted into understanding before it shifted to one of building rage.

Without giving it much thought Danny quickly reached out and wrapped his arm around Fenton's waist.

"Okaywell, 'regoingtogonowbye!" He shot his words off quickly, not giving the man any time to respond before he lifted both him and Fenton into the air and out the door.


	33. Chapter 33

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 33

Valerie let out a small groan as she reached out for her phone. The insistent buzzing had been going on for awhile now, and for the life of her she just wished that it would stop. Once she had it in hand she slowly pulled herself up, pressing the device to her ear, her eyes barely able to stay open.

"What?"

"Sorry, did I wake you babe?"

Smiling at the voice on the other end she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her arm across them, feeling a little more awake.

"Ya, but it's alright." She said, becoming more and more awake as the seconds ticked by. "You don't normally call this late though, is everything alright?"

"Well actually..."

Straightening right up her mind became fully aware of anything that was about to be said. Had something happened to Danny? Had something happened to any member of the ghost hunters? Was someone on their team hurt? Did they need her to come in?

"So you know how after you got Phantom you told me to get Jack to check on Danny? Well I went to check on him instead and I beat him home. Turns out he decided to quit being a hunter."

"What?"

That had not been one of the things that she had been expecting. Sure while she could see how close the two were getting, she'd mentioned countless times to Tucker that she was worried about it but he always told her it would be fine, she'd never thought it would get to this point so quickly. Fenton had been a hunter forever. It was what he lived and breathed, and he was willing to give that up and just walk away from it?

Their relationship might have been more serious than she had thought.

"I know right? Even I was a little shocked when he gave everyone the news." The boy mumbled. "But ya. He quit, and than he left home. Said he couldn't be around them since it was such a conflict of interest so I, kinda...brought him to GRR."

"WHAT!"

The volume of her voice was surely enough to wake up everyone on her floor and above, but she didn't care. Her heart felt like it was beating a million miles a minute and her mouth had suddenly gone bone dry.

"Why would you do that!? He's a hunter! They hunt ghosts Tucker! What were you thinking!? Do you know what could happen if he got his hands on the information that we have? How do you know this isn't some sort of trick? You could be putting Danny in danger! You could be putting all of them in..!"

"Valerie please! I already got the lecture from Jack!" Tucker whined, cutting her off in the mist of her rant while she continued to fume.

"Well what on earth made you think..?"

"He's my best friend Val."

The soft tone of his voice made her go quiet, her rage shimmering as she pressed her lips into a thin line.

"I know that I wasn't supposed to get attached but I've known Danny for years. I've watched them interact with each other over the last few months and...there's something different about him now. He's not going to hurt Phantom okay? He's not going to turn on any of us."

Taking in a deep breath Valerie closed her eyes to try and help calm herself down. "Tucker," it was hard to keep her voice even, but she managed as she threw her legs over the side of her bed and got to her feet, "if what your saying is true, than that means that he just turned his back on his family. If he's willing to do that to blood than what's to stop him from turning on us too?"

The line fell silent. She didn't want to do this. She'd always known that Fenton and Tucker were close, even though it was supposed to be against his orders, but she couldn't say that she was surprised. She wasn't supposed to get close to Danny either and they had ended up becoming best friends in such a short amount of time that it still left her head spinning. Which was why she had to ask. She cared about Danny, and she knew that sometimes Tucker could be trusting of the wrong people, what if Fenton had just been playing with the halfa this whole time? What if this was some sort of plan to get at him? He was an acquaintance of Vlad after all. There weren't very many lows that the man wouldn't cross.

"He wouldn't hurt Phantom." The assertiveness in his voice shocked her. Tucker never took much seriously, but he didn't seem to be taking any of this lightly. "I know you probably don;t believe me, but Val, Danny would never do anything to bring harm to him, not anymore. If he were to go after our group than that would be going after everyone Phantom cares about. He would never do that."

Biting down on her bottom lip she glared at the wall across from her. She still didn't like it, but there wasn't much she could do about it either. Sure her and Danny hadn't talked much about his 'secret' crush, but she had seen how happy he was when ever he talked about Fenton. For Danny she supposed she could allow this. But if Fenton made even one slip up...

"Fine." She grumbled. "I guess I don't have to like the guy but I'm not going to be going easy on him either."

"That works for me. He'll grow on you."

"Ya, like a fungus." She muttered, earning an amused sounding chuckle from her boyfriend.

"Well I wanted to let you know that Jack actually kicked him out of the lab. Said that Danny wasn't allowed in there when there wasn't anyone around to watch him,"

"Smart move."

"Sooo he's just going to be living with Jack and Phantom instead. I think their there now. Jack wanted to know if you could keep an eye on them while he was still at the lab...Hello? Val?"

She didn't waste anytime as she quickly threw on a pair of jeans over her sleep shorts, shouldering her way threw the door and leaving her phone laying on her bed. Like she was just going to leave those two alone. Who knew just what they would get up to, and if Fenton really was just playing tricks than what was to stop him from nabbing Danny when they were alone?

Without a second thought she was out the door and heading down the hall.

(***)

"Stop staring."

Danny blinked as his brain took a moment to put together the simple words. His hand slowed in its movements momentarily, but not for long before he continued to run his fingers through the others shockingly soft hair.

"Why?"

His question was just as simple as the demand, but it appeared that Nights still needed a second to think of the answer as he shifted slightly in the others arms. After taking as much time as he could to put together what was wrong he lifted his head up, propping his chin on Danny's chest and glaring up at him adorably.

"It's weird."

Unable to help himself Danny tried to cover up his snicking by tilting his head back and covering the others eyes with the hand he'd been using to ruffle his hair. Nights gave a bit of a grunt at that, shoving his hand off and shifting until he was resting gently under his chin. Although he didn't mind the new position Danny couldn't help but wonder if the snow haired teen had done this just so he wouldn't be able to keep watching him. He decided to let it go, at least for a few minutes. When he grew tried of watching the movie that he had picked he squirmed until his back was pressed against the arm of the couch and Nights was once again curled up across his stomach. He smiled at his victory, Nights apparently being to wrapped up in the epic car chase to care to much about what he was up to, Danny lowered his hand again and picked up where he had left off with the silky locks.

He couldn't do what Nights wanted. There was no way that he would be able to take his eyes off of him anymore. For months he'd been wondering just who was hiding underneath that mask, and his mind was still having a hard time with putting together the fact that it was someone he saw almost every single day. Although he guess that they acted the same, he'd never really spent any time with Phantom. Other than that one time he had talked to the guy at the deli, he'd never bothered to talk to him either inside or outside of school. It was strange to realize that not only did he know Phantom, but that Phantom had known who he was the whole time and had purposely distanced himself.

Really there was no way that he could be mad at the guy either. He was sure that if he had been in Nights' shoes, he would have done the same. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if there had been times that Phantom had wanted to talk to him as Phantom and not just as Nights. If he had what would Danny have said? He never really gave his classmate much of a chance.

This though, this was nice. It was as if he was being reintroduced to both Phantom and Nights all over again, but this time as one person rather than two separate people, and he couldn't wait to see where it went from here.

When Nights gave a low growl he found himself being pulled from his thoughts.

"You're doing it again." Nights mumbled the heat from his face warming Danny's stomach and making him aware of the bright blush he knew was there even if he couldn't see it.

"I'm sorry." Danny chuckled, "I can't help it."

The long groan that Nights gave made a pleasant flip in his stomach, and Danny found that he wouldn't mind hearing that noise again. Just maybe at some later time when he was sure that Jack wasn't going to break down the door and murder him with a blunted axe. Man did he ever have a lot of explaining to do. Was Jack even going to believe him if he told him that he and Nights had only really kissed? He highly doubted it. No doubt his overactive parental mind was coming up with all sorts of ideas.

When Nights sat up, all but straddling his waist Danny decided it was probably best if he didn't start thinking about less than wholesome thoughts and tried to focus on what the other was so flustered over.

"You know it's me now." Phantom grumbled, his brows furrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So stop staring."

Danny arched a brow at that, the corners of his lips slowly turning downwards. His staring actually seemed to bother Phantom. More just than the fact that he disliked it, there was something else there. Something that he could see the boy was trying to hide, but was glimmering just behind the heavy curtains of his eyes. Was it being looked at that was bothering him so much? Or was it being seen?

"Do you like hiding better?" He asked, tilting his head to the side and earning himself a hiss.

"Cowards hide." Nights snapped, his fangs flashing at Danny for a split second. "I just don't like being examined."

Ah, and there it was.

He didn't have a problem with Danny staring at him when he thought he was just a ghost. He didn't mind Danny staring when he thought he was just human. It was the fact that Danny now knew that he was both. It was the idea that Danny was scrutinizing his existence. That he was trying to break it down scientifically. With what had happened earlier today Nights was probably still a little edgy about being watched so carefully. He was lumping Danny's staring with the cold gazes of the ones who had torn him from his family.

Giving out a small sigh Danny turned his gaze towards the ceiling, placing his hands on the others hips.

"Okay. I'll lay off a little bit."

"Well now you just look weird." Nights sighed, the sound of fabric shifting catching Danny's attention but he forced himself not to look. "There, you can look now."

Tilting his head back down he couldn't help but be a little disappointed at seeing the hood casting shadows over the others face once again. Thankfully Nights didn't hide his whole face anymore, leaving the lower half exposed, but Danny really would have preferred to see the whole thing. He wasn't about to push though. The last thing he wanted to do was make the half ghost uncomfortable. Besides, it was something that they could work up to.

"Feel better?" Danny asked, giving the other a lopsided smile as he propped his cheek up against his hand.

Phantom stretched his arms up and than rolled his shoulders back, a long sigh leaving his lips as he settled himself on Danny's lower stomach.

"Much better." He purred his hands sliding on the other flat stomach and sending a shutter up Danny's spine.

"Whoa there." Danny quickly snatch up the wandering hands by the wrists, pulling them away from what they were doing as he shifted against the couch. "Not that I'm not interested, but I'd really like to live to see eighteen, and if your Dad comes home and sees us making out, he'll make sure I have an early grave."

"But he might not be back for hours." Phantom insisted, his voice a low grumble as his shoulders pulled up to his ears. "Come on Fenton."

"Nope, sorry."

Snickering as the halfa whined he let out a small 'oof' when Nights suddenly flopped on him again. Letting go of his hands he he wrapped his arms around Nights waist and allowed the snuggling to commence. He really wanted to continue playing with Nights hair, but he didn't want to have to struggle with worrying about if he was going to knock the others hood off either. Instead he just rested his hand on top of Nights' head and gently rubbed at the fabric with his thumb. This seemed to be just fine with the white haired teen as he let out a long sigh of content and snuggled against his chest a little more.

As the minutes ticked by Fenton realized that he didn't mind this. He didn't mind it at all. There was something really...right about being with Phantom. He'd never felt this comfortable even at his own home, and yet, snuggled up with someone he was told to hate for nearly all of his life, he was just that. He felt at peace. Even though he'd had to leave home, even though he'd found out that Tucker had been spying on him for years for a group he'd never heard of, even though Phantom's Dad would mostly likely be home at any minute to kill him for having shenanigans with his son. It all felt right in a way that being a hunter had never been.

He was actually happy, and he hadn't even realized that he'd never truly felt that way before until he'd met Phantom. It was almost as if he'd been going through the motions, walking through life with a half baked sense of what he was supposed to be doing. Than Nights came a long and tipped his perfectly black and white world on its head. He still felt like he was falling, and oddly enough he was just fine with it. So he didn't care how long it was going to take for Nights to be hoodless around him permanently. He could wait for as long as the other needed. He wasn't going anywhere.

"I don't know what my Dad was thinking."

"Hm?"

Danny hummed at the words that broke there silence, not even realizing that he'd been just about ready to nod off until Nights' voice pulled him back.

"I don't know why he thought taking me to...to his lab was a good idea. I mean if he'd warned me before hand it might have been okay...maybe, but..."

It was the shaking that really pulled him out of it. He could feel Nights trembling in his hold and he straightened out to be able to look down at the other clearly. This appeared to be the wrong move though since Phantom pushed himself up and shuffled until he was pressed to the opposite side of the couch. He was still shaking, Danny could see it from where he was sitting, but he didn't want to risk getting any closer and scaring the other off.

Trying to appear as relaxed as he could, he threw one arm over the arm of the couch and moved his legs off the cushions until his feet were planted firmly on the ground.

"Have you ever told anyone about what happened?" He asked, watching as Phantom pulled his legs up to his chest.

"No," Nights admitted, his shoulders coming up in a small shrug, "but who am I supposed to talk to about it?"

Opening his mouth he had a response on the tip of his tongue, but he never got to say a word before there was a knock at the door.

Both boy's shared a quick look with one another, wondering just who in there right mind would be knocking on the door at close to midnight. Nights was the first to react, all but leaping off the couch and floating in the air, green energy already swirling in the palms of his hands and a snarl set over his face. Danny wasn't far behind, moving off the couch and onto his feet as his fingers curled into tight fists.

Jack wouldn't bother knocking on the door to his own house, but it was just the kind of polite mental game that Vlad would play.

"Danny? Danny are you home?"

His stance relaxed when, instead of his uncles gruff sounding voice, a smooth and young female voice fluttered through the cracks of the door.

"Val?" Nights mumbled, sounding just as shocked as Danny was confused.

Val? Was he talking about Valerie? He guessed that made sense. He saw the two of them hanging out at school all of the time now that he was thinking about it. Was it normal for her to show up here at this time though? He didn't think it would be, but after his initial shock at finding out who it was Nights approached the door like it was completely normal. So not only did these two see each other all the time at school, but they hung out after to...which was fine really. He hung out with Sam and Tucker after school too. So it was fine. Yup, just fine.

Watching Nights throw the door open with a wide smile on his face Danny tired to repeat those three words over and over again.

"Valerie!" Nights exclaimed, throwing his arms out and embarrassing her in a tight hug. "You feeling better since this morning?"

Danny couldn't help but bristle at the scene before him, even though he knew he had no right to. They weren't doing anything wrong after all. They were just really good friends. And they were hugging. Tightly.

"Well after finding out you were okay I slept like a baby." She smirked, pulling back once she was able too before a small frown came to her face. "But than my Dad called me. He said that Jack wanted to make sure that you two wouldn't...get up to anything while he was gone so he wanted me to supervise till he got back."

Flopping back down on the couch he tried to hide the scowl over his face by pressing the palm of his hand against his lips, hoping it would look like he was just resting his head there. Maybe he should have taken Phantom up on his offer earlier...

Nights on the other hand gave her a gentle shove as he pulled his hood off of his head, the smile on his face almost blinding to look at.

"So what, you're my babysitter now?" He snickered, moving out of the way of the door so that she could come in.

"I refuse to change diapers or bed sheets."

"Val." Nights grumbled, his face beat red as she snickered at his discomfort.

It was only when they walked further into the house that she gave a nod of acknowledgement to Danny.

"Hey Fenton."

"Hi."

He ignored the look of question that Nights shot over his shoulder for his colder than normal response while Val sat down on the couch on the opposite side, leaving the middle for Phantom to sit next to him. Which, he supposed was...nice. Maybe she wasn't to bad...maybe...

"Madagascar three?" She asked, arching a brow as she turned a smirk to the one who was making his way back over to them.

"Hey I've had a stressful few days okay? I need to watch something a little light." Nights grumbled, the scowl over his face playful and he flopped back on the couch, once again nestling up to Danny's side.

Happy with the show of affection Danny couldn't help the stupidly, goofy smile that came to his lips as he wrapped an arm around the boy's waist and gently pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

Nights shot him a small smile of his own, snuggling deeper into his side before he moved his attention back to his friend. It didn't go unnoticed by Danny one bit about how she had been glaring at him over Nights' head while the boy's back had been turned. So apparently this dislike wasn't very one sided.

"Val, there are some questions I have though." Nights said, and his words caught the attention of both the others while they waited for him to continue. "You and Tucker seem pretty close, and apparently Tucker's part of this organization with my Dad so I was just wondering if you knew anything about that?"

For a moment she said nothing. She just stared at him as the movie continued to play its lighthearted music in the background, contracting the atmosphere that had built up around the three in the last few seconds. She was the first one to break the mannequin show that they had become however as she shifted in place and leaned back against the arm of the couch. Placing her feet up on the cushions while crossing her arms over her chest.

"You weren't planning on going to school tomorrow were you? Because if you want me to explain what's going on we have a long night ahead of us."


	34. Chapter 34

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 34

There was nothing more that Jack wanted to do than to turn his car around and go home. It was late, and his son was probably at home right now all over that hunter like any pair of hormonal teens left unsupervised. Even knowing that however he couldn't find it in himself to drive away and put an end to it. There was something that he had to know first.

But he still couldn't pry his hands away from the steering wheel that they were wrapped around, nor could he tare his gaze away from the looming building before him. He wanted to know if he was right, he prayed that he wasn't, the two kids really did get along well together, in fact they reminded Jack of himself and his first wife back in the day, but if what he was thinking was true than he...god he didn't know what he would do.

With a sigh he screwed his eyes shut. Taking a deep breath he turned his head forward, facing the front rather than to just keep looking at the structure that he use to know so well. If he could just pretend that this was back than, that nothing had changed all those years ago, than maybe he would be able to gather enough courage to step out of his car.

He knew that wasn't going to happen. Without giving himself any time to back out, Jack ripped off his seat belt and threw the door open. His boots hit the pavement before his brain even had any time to catch up with him. Before he even really knew what was going on he was standing at the base of the steps and looking up. Looking up at a home that he use to share with the love of his life.

He had to swallow down the bile in his throat that threatened to come up, but he pressed forward regardless of the overwhelming fear that was crawling up his spine. His finger came to a pause as it hovered inches away from the doorbell. If there was anyone asleep he would surely wake them up. Than again they had always been more night owls than they had been early birds. But what if it wasn't her who opened the door? What if it was...?

His hand moved before his mind did. Switching from the doorbell to knocking on the door instead. If anyone was sleeping than there was a lot less likely chance that he would wake them up. That could have been a cowardes move, if they didn't answer he could always say that he tried, but he knew that he would never believe that he had really given it a shot. After waiting for a few tense seconds he wondered if maybe anyone was even home. Maybe they weren't. Maybe he was standing outside the door of an empty house looking like an idiot and a creep. She always headed out to do her work the moment that she could. Than again her son had just left her. Maybe she would skip hunting for one night if only to morn over that loss.

Just as he was about to turn around, head back to his car, and go to his son, the unmistakable screech of the door handle being turned echoed throughout the stillness of the night.

Breath caught in his throat as the one he'd been looking for came into view.

"Maddie."

She was still as beautiful as he remembered. She cut her hair, her face looked a little paler and there were now visible wrinkles at the corner of her eyes and her mouth that showcased her age, but to him she was still the vision of youth that he remembered.

A look of shock crossed her features, soon morphing slowly into a look of blank passiveness as she stared at him from the inside of the door.

"I thought you were someone else."

Eighteen years, and that was the first thing that she could say to him. He would have thought that she would have had more questions, but he was sure that she had already come to her own conclusion for every single one of them. Besides, he'd made it very clear why he had left, and she had never chased after him. It was the one act that he was sure that she would have taken up. To drag him and Lydia back here. To take her away and finish the experiments that they had started. To destroy her completely. He knew that it would have been all to easy for Maddie to do. But she had allowed him to go. She had allowed him to make his choice. Maybe she had waited for him to change his mind. To see some sort of error in his ways and to come back, but he was sure that at some point she had given up.

"I'm sure you're talking about Danny."

It felt weird to say that name and to not be talking about his own son. Or at least, he didn't think that Fenton was his son. He was certainly hoping not, but the age did match up to a certain point. Shaking that out of his head however he didn't miss the way that her eyes narrowed and her lips flattened into a straight line.

"What would you know about it?" She said, her voice low, but sharp and deadly.

"A lot more than you'd think," he mumbled, "but less than I'd like." Admitting it left a bad taste in his mouth, but he knew that she would be the only one to give him answers. "Would you mind if I came in? I know I have no right to ask but please? I need to talk to you. I need some answers."

"You've got some nerve strolling in here and..."

"Maddie please. This effects both of our kids."

Her mouth snapped shut at that, her eyes once again wide as she pulled away from the door.

"Our kids? You, you..." Her words trailed off, her eyes darting back over to the stairs before she reached out and shoved him back.

Once they were both out on the step she carefully closed the door behind her and than spun on her heels to face him. He should have been ready for it, but the slap that came across his face stunned him for the briefest of moments.

"You ran off and left me and Jazz behind for some ghost!" She snapped, his hand coming up to cradle his wounded jaw while her lips twisted into pure rage. "And you think that you can just come back here and claim that they're both of yours!?"

"Not at all!" He shouted out, trying to get his words out quick before she could carry on. "I know that I lost my chance with Jasmine. I'm sorry that she had to grow up without a father around and that..." He couldn't find it in himself to finish. It would only make her angrier. It would only hurt her more. "When I said both of our kids I meant...your Danny, and mine."

Her mouth dropped open, her rage fleeing to be replaced with stunned surprise. In all fairness however Jack had much the same expression when he'd found out about her Danny. The first time that he had seen them fighting side by side he knew that the young hunter was her son, but if he was his son he'd never been able to figure out. Just the fact that she had named him 'Danny' a nickname for 'Danial', his own father's name, made him wonder if she had been pregnant with the boy before he had left and they had both been unaware of it.

"That child at the deli. Danny's classmate, Phantom...oh my god."

He watched as she put together the pieces, as her mind was connecting events that had happened in the past.

"He's, he's your son."

"Yes."

He didn't know what else to say. He knew that she was bound to find out eventually, but he could see the disgust already forming on her face and he had to turn away.

"You, and that ghost. You..."

"I need to know." Jack muttered, interrupting her before she could go on. "Is your Danny my biological son?"

She shook herself out of her shock. Her eyes narrowing in distaste as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. He could see the way that her fingers were curling against her skin, he could see how sharply they were digging into her arms. It worried him. He wanted to reach out and take one of her hands, keep her from inflicting pain on herself even if it was accidental, but he knew she would only lash out at him and he needed answers before she was sure to shut the door on him forever.

"No."

A mixture of relief and jealousy slammed into him simultaneously. He knew that he had no right to be angry at her for finding comfort in another man. To be so would have been highly hypocritical, but at the same time he couldn't help the part of himself that had been hoping that she would have waited for him. As unfair as he knew it was, it was something he'd always secretly hoped for.

"Why do you care anyways?" She asked, pulling him from his thoughts and scowling at the frown that was set over his face. "You've got your own little...abomination to look after."

"There's nothing wrong with my boy!" Jack snapped, his anger only surfacing long enough to defend his son. "Danny is a perfectly good child and he shouldn't have to be judged for what he is. He's already been through enough." Straightening up he mirrored her pose, crossing his arms over his thick chest before he continued. "And your son appears to like him just fine. They're really quiet...close."

The implication in his tone was heavy, and he would have been lying if he were to say that he didn't get some sort of satisfaction from watching the way that her brain seemed to come to a grinding halt. He might as well have just stabbed her with a cattle prod from the way that her whole body ceased up. He just gave a shake of his head, slowly walking back to the bottom of the stairs and leaving her in the halo of light that was cast from the glass above the door.

"I just wanted to find out if they were related or not, and now I have my answer." He said, letting out a long sigh when she still appeared frozen. As he turned to leave he let out a long sigh, there were still a lot of things that he wished that they could talk over, but he knew that she would never listen, at least not right now. Still, there were a few last things that he had to say, if only for Danny's sake. "I know I shouldn't be the one to say this but your refusal to change is what drove us apart. Don't make the same mistake with your son. Your Danny's a good kid Maddie."

Turning back to face her he glared over her head and at the house. He knew that he was in there. He knew that he had been bothering his son lately. It was why Danny was so jumpy and quicker to lash out. It was why he went missing from time to time with no explanation. But he also knew that there would be no safer place for his son than here. They couldn't run forever, and he couldn't keep uprooting his son either. Danny was finally making good friends here. He liked it here, even with all the danger and the hunters. The simple act of Danny not mentioning that he knew that Vlad was around these parts was enough of a statement of how badly he wanted to stay here, regardless of the many consequences that could come from it. If staying here is what his son wanted though than Jack wasn't going to refuse him. But he was going to do everything in his power to protect him.

"And tell Vlad," he hissed, ignoring the arch in her brow as he spoke. "that if he gets within two hundred feet of my son again, I will kill him."

Leaving that as his closing statement he turned once again and headed back to his car. He knew that Vlad was watching them somehow. He knew that the man would hear just how serious his warning was. Now if he chose to listen to it was a whole other thing. If he didn't however, Jack was going to keep good to his word.

(***)

Valerie had decided to make them all hot chocolate before she would say anything. Danny didn't mind that so much. Than she said that they should all sit at the table while she explained everything. That he minded a little bit more, if only because now he couldn't be snuggled with Nights. He had a feeling that was kind of her plan, but he could also see how it made sense. It would be less distracting any how.

So here he was, sitting on one side of the table with Nights to his right and Valerie right in front of him. Apparently they had all decided to take a few minutes just to sip at the warm beverages before any of them were going to say anything. He wasn't sure why he himself wasn't saying a word, but he really didn't want to be the one to break the silence either. No doubt she needed some time to organize her thoughts and figure out what she was going to say. While he himself had managed to get quite a bit of information out of Tucker it was more of a tour around their lab than what it was really for. He got the jest of it, but it was going to be interesting to see what she had to tack on as well.

Taking a glance over at the ghost next to his side he found himself reaching out for the boy's hand before he could even think about it. The troubled look that had been set over Nights', still surprisingly uncovered, face morphed into one of shock as Danny lightly traced his fingers over the back of his hand.

'You okay?'

He didn't have to ask the words out loud, but he could see that Nights understood him loud and clear, giving him a somewhat shaky smile as he wrapped his hand around Danny's fingers and gave them a light squeeze. When Valerie cleared her throat they both pulled away and turned to give her their full attention.

"Okay, I'm going to start talking, and if you have any questions about anything just ask okay?"

Danny gave a nod of his head while Nights gave a halfhearted shrug at his side. Really he supposed that, that was the best way to go about it. If they just started asking questions right off the bat there would be no way that they would even know what they should be asking about.

"So, the lab was made years ago with the help of your father and mine. Although Jack's worked long distance for all of those years, since you guy's moved here he's been helping a whole lot more. It's a ghost research and relocation facility."

So far it made sense. Danny had heard as much from Tucker when he'd been showing him around.

"I've worked there for the last two years, along with some other kids that you know from school."

"Who else?"

Danny cast a look over to the white haired male, wondering if he'd ever had any suspicious thoughts about what his classmates did after school hours and if he was trying to piece together strange behaviour from them now.

"Well, Dash for one," Val started and even Danny found himself snapping his attention back to her in shock. "Paulina, Kwan, and Tucker."

Seriously? Those guys? They were the main school group. The most popular of the popular. How could it be that they managed to have a second life on top of that? A life that no one knew about? While it was true that he was also one of the ghost hunters, it was easy for him to blend into the background when he was just Danny Fenton. These guys all had all sorts of eyes on them all the time. How on earth did they do it? And how had he not noticed? Sure while Tucker was working as a spy, something that still stung a little bit to think of, obviously they were actually going out there and doing other things. How had he not run into them at least once or something? Than again he had noticed that Dash had been leaving him alone a lot this year. While he'd originally thought that it was because Nights had handed him his ass when he'd mistaken him for Danny maybe it was a whole other reason. How long had they all been involved in this group for? As long as Valerie had? Longer? Shorter? Just what was going on?

He never voiced any of his questions, and it seemed that Nights didn't have anything else to add either, so Valerie just continued on.

"Tucker is kind of like our spy." She explained, unable to help himself from wincing as she continued. "He keeps an eye on the hunters and he lets us know about the whereabouts of the ghosts that they're hunting. If we can get there before the hunters than we can snatch up the ghosts first. We also find other ghosts that haven't even popped up on their radars yet and we have them moved to safer locations."

Ugh, this was a lot to take in. He could only imagine how Nights felt about this. This was a huge thing to be keeping from your kid, especially if it might have been a place that he would have felt more at home in. If Nights hadn't started panicking back at the lab Danny couldn't help but wonder if he might have had fun mingling among other ghosts and humans, for once not having to hide who or what he was.

An odd sort of pain pierced Danny's heart as he frowned at the attentive face of the halfa. He'd never really though of it before but it was actually really sad. He could understand to a point about having to hide who he really was from others, he was an ex hunter after all, but to have to hide something that was so apart of you because it could lead to people taking rash actions out of fear for something that was just out of his hands... the pressure from that would have crushed him.

How did Nights feel about this? How did he feel about hiding what he couldn't control? Had anyone ever found out? Had he ever been ridiculed for something as simple as his eyes or his hair? What kind of answers did he give them in return? He could remember the night when he'd found Nights outside his house, the way that the drunks were picking on him because his eyes were glowing in the dark. Was that something that happened to him on a regular bases? What kind of excuse could one even come up for with that?

"What's with the labs?"

Danny blinked himself out of his thoughts, thankful that Nights had actually been listening to Valerie and hadn't noticed that he'd been staring at him intently for the last few minutes. Seeing the boy's lips twist up to form a snarl however he quickly reached out and grabbed his hand. He could see that Nights was angry, he could understand why, but if the guy said anything to his friend in a moment of mindless rage he knew that Nights would end up regretting it and would feel terrible. Although he didn't end up taking his eyes off of her, his lips did fall from their snarl and the tense muscles did relax the slightest. Considering that a win for now Danny turned his attention back to the girl across from him.

"If all you guys do is find ghost and place them in different places than why do you need labs?"

"Danny," She sighed, reaching over to take a hold of his free hand. "In order to help we have to study them. We always get their permission first hand and we don't run any test they don't want. It's...we're not the enemy."

Danny could feel Nights tensing at her words again. Squeezing the boy's hand he watched as he took a deep breath, doing his best to keep calm. Danny quickly shared a glance with Val, giving the slightest nod of his head to allow her to continue.

"The labs are to help the ones that have been injured or to help run tests so we have a better understanding and can help them more in the future."

As Nights closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead, Danny gently ran his thumb over the back of the boy's hand. He couldn't even begin to imagine just what thoughts were running through his mind right now. But he had some questions of his own and now that Nights wasn't asking anything maybe it was his turn to figure some things out.

"Tucker knows who Nights' is. Who he really is."

"What?"

"How many other people know?" Danny finished, ignoring the boy by his side for now.

Valerie shot a quick look at Phantom. Her lips pursed into a frown while her brow furrowed at the look that was set across his face.

"Everyone at the lab knows."

When Nights shot up from the table, Danny gave a small jump. He tried to reach out for him again, but the white haired male wasn't having any of it. Instead he slammed his hands down, leaning over to hiss at his friend as his eyes flashed with the warning signs of his rage.

"This whole time!? Everyone knew!? Is that the only reason that you hung out with me? Is that the only reason that anyone at school hangs out with me? Is this some sort of babysitting group or something?"

"Nights calm..."

"Don't tell me to calm down Hunter!" Nights snapped, ripping his hand away before the other male could grab it, snapping his teeth in the air in warning. Knowing that it might be a better idea to stay out of this one, Danny raised his hands and sat back. Clearly this was going to be something that he was going to have to talk through with Valerie.

When Nights turned on her again even Danny could feel how sorry she was from the look in her eyes.

"It's not like that Danny," She said, reaching out and managing to nab one of his hands before he could pull away, "in fact none of us were supposed to talk to you just in case you figured out what was going on. I like hanging out with you though, we all do. If we didn't we wouldn't bother getting in trouble from our bosses by breaching protocol." She assured him, giving his hand a tight squeeze.

Danny had to admit he was pretty impressed with the effects that her word had on the tense teen. Nights visibly relaxed, and after a deep breath even his eyes dulled back to normal.

"I like hanging out with you." She repeated as the white haired teen bonelessly dropped himself back onto his chair. "You're funny and smart and the best gay friend any girl could ever ask for." She grinned and Danny found himself sipping on his next sip of hot chocolate while Nights face flushed a deep red.

"I'm not-! I mean we're not-! Um..."

Nights trailed off, biting down on his bottom lip while he stole a look over at Danny. What were they even supposed to say to that? They weren't dating, or at least neither of them had confirmed if they were or not, and before they had met each other they hadn't even known that they liked other guys. In fact Danny had thought for sure that he was straight but...

Placing down his mug and throwing caution to the wind Danny quickly wrapped his hand around the back of the others neck and pulled him in. Nights let out a small squeak, the kiss catching him off guard and leaving him no time to recover before Danny pulled back again.

"We're whatever you want to call that." He muttered, trying to hide the dark blush over his face and trying to act nonchalant to the whole situation as he picked up his mug again.

"Happiness?"

Danny's heart nearly exploded at the shy question as his face became so red he was sure that it was steaming. Reaching out with his free hand he placed it over top of the ghost halfa's and gave it a light squeeze. God dammit. If this guy got any cuter he was going to die young.

Valerie on the other hand snickered at their embarrassment and unending awkwardness. At least someone was finding this whole situation amusing. Both boys gave her a small glare from the corner of their eyes but she didn't pay it any mind as she reached out and grabbed Nights' free hand.

"In all honesty Danny, I never told them anything that happened between us. They asked sure, especially when you were really down and such, but I never said a word about anything that we talked about or anything that we did."

Eyeing their hands for a moment Danny let it slid as he brought his gaze back up to see how the other was going to react. A small, but real, smile graced Nights' face and Danny realized that, that was the first time he'd ever really seen that look on the one he'd grown so attached to. It was heartwarming and beautiful and as much as he wished it was directed at him he couldn't even find it in himself to complain about it. He was just happy to see it at all.

"Thanks Val." Nights' voice was small, but real as she let a smile of relief come across her own face.

Her eyes softened as she reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear.

"It's no problem Hun." She assured, patting his cheek softly after for good measure.

A low growl made both of them blink and it took Danny a second to realize that the sound had come from him. When they turned to look at him he quickly looked away and downed the rest of his drink. He grimaced as he was hit with all of the sweetness at once, nearly gagging but holding it back. He really had no reason to be jealous, but...he didn't want to see how close they were either. Still, this was Nights' best friend and if this was just how they were than he supposed that he could get use to it. Although that might take awhile...

"So I can't think of any more questions." Nope, his brain was fried for the night. To much had happened today. He'd retired from hunting, left his family, found out one of his best friends was a spy the whole time, found out there was an entire other researcher lab in Amity Park, and that a few of his classmates were even working there and had been for how long. Yup, he was done for the night.

"I have a lot more." Nights mumbled as his shoulders gave a light shrug. "But I'm...still trying to process everything else." He admitted. "Do you think...?"

"We can continue this later." Valerie said, reaching over and ruffling his hair. "Fell free to ask me whenever you've got questions. For now though maybe we could go and finish that movie?"

Although he knew that there was no way either of them was going to be able to stay up much longer to finish it, Danny found himself nodding his head along with her choice as he got to his feet.

"That sounds like a good idea."


	35. Chapter 35

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 35

Danny wasn't really sure just when he'd woken up. Really it almost felt as if he hadn't gone to sleep in the first place. Or maybe he had and his mind had spent the whole time drifting in that weird in between kind of state. Either way he guessed that it didn't really matter. All he knew was that right now he was curled up on Hunter's chest on one side of the couch, while Val was sleeping against the arm on the other side.

The movie's title screen was still playing over and over, the soundtrack having become somewhat of a lullaby last night when they'd all been to tired to get up and turn it off. Not that he was feeling particularly interested in doing that now even though he was awake. He was more than content to just stay where he was. At least for now, there was no way that he would be able to stay there forever.

So what was his next move going to be?

Now he knew what his Dad was up to when he was out. Now he knew that some of his classmates and even his closest friend were all part of some giant organization. So, was he allowed to join? What would he do if he did? Was he going to be going around looking for other ghosts to keep out of the way of the hunters? Or would they want him to stay back at the lab to run some 'harmless' tests? Could he even get in the lab in the first place?

The last time he'd only been in there for a few seconds before he'd slipped into a panic attack, how was he going to be able to go back there again? What could he do in order to keep himself from freaking out and shutting down? Sure Hunter had helped, and he was grateful for that, but he didn't want to depend so heavily on the other for something that he should have been able to do on his own, and there was no way that he would be able to work there if he couldn't even step in the building in the first place.

These were definitely things that he was going to have to bring up with his father. He wasn't going to be able to figure this stuff out on his own, no matter how much he wanted to. Maybe the first thing that he had to do was admit that he was going to need their help and than move on from there. After all he had no idea how their organization actually worked and he was pretty sure that was something that he was going to need to know back and front before he did anything.

Letting out a deep breath he snuggled further into Hunter's chest before he forced himself to get up. He wasn't going to get anything done if he just laid around all day, and for the last few days that's all he felt he'd been doing. He still had his 'Vlad' problem to work out, and now he had this on top of it. He really couldn't afford to dally anymore.

The first thing that he needed to do was talk to his Dad.

Taking a quick glance to the front door he was almost surprised to see his Dad's shoes. He'd thought that the man would have woken them up and sent him to his room once he saw all of them on the couch together, but than again maybe Jack had been to tired and saw that Val was with them.

Seeing no reason to hide what he was, since everyone here already knew apparently, Danny pushed himself off of the ground and hovered in the air. Placing his hands in the pockets of his hood he floated down the short hall and made his way to his Dad's door. Not even giving it a second thought he slipped through the door and came to a stop on the other side.

It looked as if he and his friends weren't the only ones that had fallen asleep in their clothes last night. His Dad must have been really tired, and knowing that they hadn't gone to bed until the wee hours of the morning he couldn't help but wonder just how long his Dad had been out, and just what he had been up to. Watching the man sleep for a moment he almost felt bad about wanting to wake him up so early. But he needed answers, and he wanted to ask his Dad somethings without the others listening in on it.

Landing beside the bed Danny gently reached out and shook his Dad's shoulder.

"Dad." He whispered, not wanting to startle the man by being to loud. "Dad wake up. I want to ask you some thing."

The man mumbled, his eyelids twitching as his body forced itself to wake. It took him a few more seconds but eventually he cracked his eyes open and squinted at his son in the dim light.

"Danny? What's the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

A small smile twitched at the corners of his lips at the words. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd gone to his Dad because of a bad dream. Was his Dad even seeing him right now? Or was he seeing a much younger version in his weary state? Not that it really mattered he supposed, he had other things to think about.

"Um, no. I wanted to ask you something." He repeated, knowing that the man probably hadn't been able to make out what he had said beforehand.

When his Dad heaved himself up Danny felt a small frown come to his face as he watched him struggle. For his Dad to find something like that hard he must have been way more tired than he was letting on. Man, just how much were Danny's antics weighting on him?

Once Jack was sitting up, and turned to face his son he looked at the boy with a much more awake eye, not seeing annoyed in the least by being woken up.

"What's on your mind son? I can only imagine how...sudden, this all is."

Giving a shrug of his shoulders Danny dropped his gaze to the side for a moment before he could think of how to word his next sentence.

"Well it's not the weirdest thing in my life." He muttered truthfully before rocking back on his heels. "But I want to join you."

There was a long stretch of silence after his words. They just stared at one another, both with equally blank faces, as if they were trying to read each other without giving away what they were thinking. After a moment Jack took in a deep breath and straightened himself up. Danny found it ridiculous how his father was still almost as tall as he was even when seated.

"It's true that I wanted you to join us Danny."

Uh oh. This wasn't starting out good.

"But there are somethings that have come to my attention that I think you need to be honest with first before I can trust you to do what needs to be done back at the lab."

Quirking a brow Danny couldn't help but wonder just what that was. He'd told his father about Fenton and what he had been up to the last few months. Just what else had he left out that his Father was upset by? He'd been so busy with everything that there wasn't much else he could have done.

"I..." Coming to a pause his brows furrowed together while he gave a light shake of his head. "Um, like what were you thinking? I, you already know about Hunter so..."

"When were you going to tell me about Vlad Danny?"

Reflectively Danny's hands tightened, his nails digging into the flesh of his palms while his heart rate skyrocketed. His Dad knew about that? He knew that he was here? Was he going to move them again? Was he going to be taken away from Hunter? From Valerie? Hell, even from Tucker? He didn't want to go. As dangerous as it was here and as much as a threat as both Maddie and Vlad were, he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Before he could form any type of protest however, before he could even think up what to say in order to defend himself and change his Dad's mind from moving them, Jack raised his hand to stop him.

"Relax son. We're not going anywhere."

Danny was both relieved and confused by his statement. Darting out his tongue to lick at his suddenly dry lips, the younger male moved his gaze over to the floor. As grateful as he was, he didn't want to see his Dad's disappointment in him either. By not saying anything he not only put his own life in danger, but everyone else around him as well.

"I..." He choked on his words, his shoulders jerking up into another shrug. "I thought that maybe...I could handle it..."

"Well that was stupid."

Wincing at the foreign harsh tone from his Father he turned a meek eye to the man. Shame burned over his cheeks as guilt settled heavily in his stomach at the frown that was pointed at him.

"Look son." Jack sighed, giving an attempt to ease up a little, but Danny could still see his true feelings locked tightly behind his gaze. "I understand that you're strong, and that you have abilities that no one else in the world has, but you're not invincible and it's not your decision to make choices for other people."

"I know that but..."

"Our organization works because we communicate with each other. We trust each other. That is how we always know what is going on and how to best handle every situation." Jack interrupted, getting to his feet and towering over his son, any trace of exhausting nowhere to be seen. "You're a good boy Danny, but you need to rely on a team before I can put you in one. If you try to just do everything yourself you're going to get yourself or someone else hurt. Or worse."

Biting down on his bottom lip Danny tried to think of anything that he could say that would prove his Dad wrong. Sadly he couldn't come up with one. While he'd been more than ready just a short minute ago to admit that he wanted their help, he'd been hoping that after learning the ropes from them he would be able to go off again and than figure things out on his own. He'd never thought of turning to anyone else for help permanently. He'd always figured that since it was his own fault for getting into situations than he should be able to get himself out. He didn't want to drag people that he cared about into his messes, and he wanted to keep everyone as far away from danger as he could. At the same time though he could see what his Dad was talking about. What if he tried to handle something himself and got caught or hurt doing it? At the very least he would become otiose to them, at the very worst he would end up getting them caught as well or sacrificing something in negotiation.

With a long sigh his shoulders dropped. He knew that he was beat. He knew that there was nothing that he could say that would strengthen his case and weaken his fathers.

"Than what can I do?" He mumbled, feeling only slightly better when his father relaxed.

"I think the first thing that we need to do is work on getting you use to the lab." Jack said.

He paused for a moment over the grimace that overcame the others face shortly after before he placed a hand on his son's shoulders and drew his attention back upwards.

"I'm sorry by the way. About yesterday I mean."

"It's fine Dad. I..."

"No." Jack interrupted with a shake of his head. "I should have known better than too... I just thought that if I didn't tell you than you wouldn't work yourself up into a panic before hand but...that plan backfired."

Ya, pretty badly if Danny had anything to say about it. He knew that his Dad didn't do it on purpose though. He'd had good intentions, they just didn't really work the way that he thought it would.

"I noticed that you seemed a lot...calmer when...Hunter," Danny almost snickered at the way that his Dad had to grumble the name out, so he ducked his head a little and tried to hide his grin instead, "was around. So, if you go with Valerie so that she can watch him, than I think it would be best for you three to scout out the place later when you're feeling ready."

"Thanks Dad." Danny said, a small but honest smile coming to his lips as he lifted his chin up again. "But you know that Hunter's not a bad guy. You'd really like him if you got to know him."

"Hm, no doubt." Jack muttered, his eyes suddenly narrowing at his son as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But let me make it clear that you will not be sleeping together again. I allowed it last night since we'd all had a long day, but it will not be a reoccurring situation in this household."

Fighting down the blush in his cheeks Danny couldn't help the smirk that twisted the corners of his lips as he lazily placed his hands back in the pockets of his jacket.

"So, only in this household right? As long as any other place isn't off limits I think we'll be fine."

"Danny!"

Jack sounded absolutely scandalized at his son's words. Danny on the other hand just laughed as he fell through the floor before his father could scold him any more.

(***)

He wasn't here again. Was that three days now? Or was it only two? Either way it had to be because of that ghost. Tucker was even missing now, his seat empty and unused next to her as she continued to tap the end of her pencil against her desk. Turning her head so that she now held her chin in her palm rather than her cheek she glared openly at the front of the class.

She wasn't paying any attention, sometimes school seemed so pointless compared to what they had going on outside of it, and honestly when was she ever going to need to know about the chemical agents used in food? She grew all of her own anyways and never bought anything in a box. Still, she found her attention had only been able to stay focused on the class today for about five minutes before her attention was stolen away by the empty desks on either side of her.

Tucker had always seemed fine with that thing hanging around, and he had run after Danny shortly after and hadn't show up again since. Were they consorting or something? Was there something going on with Tucker that she didn't know about? It seemed unlikely. After all Tucker was their go to guy, their best friend and a major player in their game. She trusted him with her life. There was no way that he was up to anything. Than again she had thought the same about Danny and now...

Letting out a small sigh Sam bit down on her tongue as her eyes started to burn.

She didn't know what to do. She felt like she was losing both of her best friends and she was just trying to help. Danny had seemed so mad last night she'd seen him. When he'd finally managed to come home. When she had seen that he had made it back safe. When she had tried to warn him about what a stupid mistake he was making...

Grabbing her bag Sam got to her feet and started towards the door.

"Manson where do you think you're going?" The teacher asked, his eyes narrowing sharply while she continued on her way.

"Lady problems."

She knew he would be to embarrassed to ask her any further questions on the subject, and honestly she didn't care what anyone else thought. She was out the door in record time and soon enough was out of the hall and out the front door of the school.

She couldn't be in there any more. It felt to suffocating. The walls felt like they were going to crush her and it felt to...strange to be in a place where she had so many good memories with her best friends that were no longer there. She knew there was really only one place that she wanted to go anyways. Only there would she be able to get some answers and find out just where they were in their plan.

While she'd wondered if it was taking to long, Vlad had assured her that they really couldn't push their luck. Really it seemed almost hypocritical to be asking for help from a ghost but at the same time she'd never had much of a problem with Walker. She didn't like him as a rule but he kept ghosts where they were supposed to be and occasionally did help them track down and break ones that gave them real problems. Besides, if this was what she was going to have to do in order to get Danny back than so be it.

Although she was still a little fuzzy about the details. Vlad refused to share to much, he'd only say that he needed her help and that if this didn't win Danny back than nothing would, and that they needed the help of Walker to do it but...

Still, he was an amazing hunter and researcher and she would have to be some kind of idiot not to listen to him. Vlad always got what he wanted, no matter what he had to do, and right now that was the kind of thing that she needed.

Hoisting her bag up higher on her shoulders she continued to quickly make her way down the familiar streets and up to the house of her best friend. It was strange to think that Danny wasn't going to be there. While she knew that he generally wouldn't be there anyways since it was school hours it still seemed really...off, to know that even after classes were over, he wouldn't be heading home.

Here's to hoping that maybe she could fix that.

Bypassing knocking on the door, she let herself in and quickly made her way upstairs to where she knew Vlad was staying. The guest room that was normally saved for Tucker and her when they would stay over was always surrendered to the older man whenever he decided to drop in on the family. She couldn't say she really minded. Having him take up the space always gave her an excuse to sleep next to Danny during those long nights.

Her thoughts trailed a little to who he was no doubt spending his nights with now and she gave a violent shutter. If Danny was interested in boys than fine. She could live with that. It was the fact that he was interested in a ghost of all things that really made her stomach churn.

Her feet came to a stop as she took a moment to recollect herself. Taking in a deep breath through her nose she slowly let it out through her mouth before she continued.

"Samantha what a surprise."

The voice behind her gave her a start, making her jump out of her skin before she whipped around to face the one who had spoken.

Vlad was standing right behind her, a cup of still steaming tea in one hand and the corners of his lips softly tilted upwards along with the arch of one finely groom brow.

"Is there something that I can help you with my dear girl?"

Although she could never place a finger on just what it was, there was something about this guy that always made her skin crawl. When she had meet him that first time all of those years ago she hadn't liked him much. Over the years she come to except him for what he was, but that didn't mean that she still didn't have her theories or placed her guard down any.

"I wanted to talk to you." She said, trying to keep her voice nonchalant, least he start trying to treat her like a child. "About the plan and just when it's happening."

"Ah," Vlad tasked, giving a slight nod of his head as he made his way around her, "yes it will be in play very soon."

"Soon?"

Stepping in front of him she brought his walk to a sudden stop. The smile over his face slowly fell, his face taking on disinterest while she rolled her shoulders back in hopes to appear bigger than she was.

"How much longer are you going to wait? If we would have moved sooner than maybe Danny would still be here. He's already gone. He's left us and you still want to just sit around waiting and not doing anything? If we don't want to lose him for good than we have to act now."

She stood there in silence after her little spiel. If she was hoping to be treated as an adult she knew that there was no way that he was going to do so now. But she never really had a good handle on her emotions when it came to Danny, and she was only able to play a role for so long when her pride was outweighed by her concern.

"We need to get him back Vlad. The longer he's with that, that thing, the more likely he is to get hurt or worse."

Images that she never wanted to see again surfaced to the front of her mind, but she quickly buried them as she locked her sharp purple gaze with his.

"How much longer is soon?" She finally grumbled, refusing to drop the subject until she had her answer.

Vlad said nothing. His fingers lightly tapping the side of his tea cup, creating a sharp but consistent bell like sound that grated on her nerves with every passing second. She gritted her teeth, wondering if he was even thinking of anything to tell her or if he was just going to stand there in silence until one of them would eventually break.

"Time is a tool my dear." He eventually said, but it wasn't the words that she wanted to hear. "We'll strike when we need to. Not before and not after." He sidestepped her easily, patting her on the head for good measure as he continued on his way to his room. "You just be ready for my call."

She wanted to yell at him, but it wouldn't solve anything and he would just ignore her anyways which would lead her to being even more pissed. There was no way that she was going to get anymore answers either, so biting down on the bitter defeat and the uselessness of the time that she had just wasted she started to march out of the house. Just as she was making her way down the stairs the door opened and Jazz walked in. Knowing that she must have been done her lessons for the day Sam wasn't to shocked, Jazz on the other hand appeared quite stunned to see her there as she quietly closed the door behind her.

"Sam? I didn't think you'd be over until later. Don't you still have class?"

"Yup." She wasn't in the mood to offer up more than that, not slowing down her stride one bit as she made her way to the door.

Screw school. She was just going to go home today and sit in the darkness of her room until tomorrow. That was her plan anyhow. When Jazz reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm she found herself being pulled to a stop with a scowl on her face.

"Sam wait," Jazz sighed, her brows pulled together in concern as she stared down at the girl. "How are you holding up?"

How was she holding up? Well her best friend had just made the same mistake that her grandmother made and they were wasting time doing nothing while Danny was slowly inching his way towards his own death blindly. So she wouldn't say she was holding up to well.

But Danny was Jazz's little brother, and she could only imagine that she must have felt ten times worse about the whole thing than Sam could ever feel.

Letting out yet another sigh Sam gently pulled her arm away and crossed them over her chest.

"I'm fine." She lied, turning her gaze up to Jazz and away from the floor. "How are you doing?"

From the look of shock that had overcome the red heads face Sam guessed that this was the first time someone had bothered to ask her. As brainy and put together as she seemed this was still a huge change for her. Her once unbreakable family was falling apart before her very eyes and her little brother had just upped and left. Danny's bedroom was still here though, and some of his shoes were still just inside the doorway and one of his jackets was still draped over the couch. There were constant reminders of him everywhere. She had a hard enough time just looking at a picture of him right now without feeling a deep agony that attacked her very core. If she was this bad than Jazz just must have been an absolute wreck.

"I'm...I'm fine."

Sam bit down on her tongue at the obvious lie that was being told. She didn't have any place to say anything, after all she hadn't been honest either and her and Jazz had never really had much of a connection regardless of the fact that they were around each other a lot. She couldn't accuse her of anything. As she watched Jazz carefully however she found her eyes narrowing at something that didn't sit quite right.

Jazz didn't just seem put together from the outside, there was something about the look in her eyes that showed the she was just as put together internally as well. But that didn't make any sense. Should she not be freaking out at this moment? Should she not be wondering where her brother was? That he had become friends with the enemy and that he had left them for the enemy? There should have been no place for the clam in her eyes, if anything she should have been freaking out way more than anyone else. Her physiologist mindset should have been trying to break this down and make sense of it all. She should have been obsessing about what was going on.

But she wasn't. And her supposed lie of 'I'm fine' was becoming more and more true than Sam had first thought.

There was something going on here. She just didn't know what it was.

"Well," she muttered after the silence between them had dragged on long enough, "I'm glad to hear it."

"Thanks." Jazz said, licking at her lips before she brushed her hair behind her ears. "I um, I guess I'll see you tonight for your patrol."

Narrowing her eyes Sam opened the door, not once removing her gaze from the older female before her.

"Ya, see you tonight."

She didn't waste anymore time as she moved out the door, closing it behind her and yet still not able to take her eyes off of the heavy wood that was now separating her and Jazz.

There was something weird going on here. And she was going to figure out what it was.


	36. Chapter 36

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 36

"Tell Vlad, if he gets within two hundred feet of my son again, I will kill him."

Maddie grumbled lowly to herself as those words echoed through her mind again. The look over Jack's face when he had said it...she'd never seen him so serious about anything before. What did he mean by 'again' though? Vlad told her of every ghost that he'd ever caught. Not once had he ever mentioned finding one that was half ghost and half human. That would have been something that he would no doubt want to share with her. The idea was huge! Just what would that mean, just what could they do? The possibilities would be endless.

Realizing that she had strayed, not only from her original thoughts, but also her original task, Maddie gave a small shake of her head and continued to tinker away on the innards of her latest tracking device.

If Vlad had caught that...child...just what would he have done to...him.

Shaking her head once again at the strangeness of calling a ghost by such human terms she didn't know what else to do. It was a ghost. Okay. But he was also human. Just where did that put him on her scale? And her own son...

Maddie held back a shutter as her thoughts drifted once more. Jack had said that her son liked his just fine. Could that mean what she thought it did? While she was starting to accept the fact that Danny was soft on a ghost, that couldn't possibly mean that he was starting to fall for half of one...could it? This couldn't be happening to her again, she couldn't even...but Jack's words, the way that he had said them. There was no way that he could be hinting at anything else. So that could only mean that not only had her son left his cause, but he was also in love with a half human half ghost freak.

Letting out a heavy sigh she dropped the item that she was holding and brought her hand up to press the heels of her palms to her face. She couldn't hate her son. She couldn't even be angry at him. She was hurt. Hurt that he had left and that he had chosen that thing over her. Hurt that he believed in it so much he was willing to walk away from everything he knew for it. And hurt that he had known that no matter what he tried to do she would never see from his point of view.

Which really brought up the question that had been nagging at the back of her mind. Had Danny really left? Or had she just pushed him away?

Maybe if she had been a little more...open, maybe than he would have still been at home rather than out there living who knows where and doing who knows what. The only small comfort that she had was knowing that Jack knew about him, at the very least the man would make sure that he wouldn't starve and that he would have a safe place to go at night. Which is more than she could say if it had been Jack's son that appeared to her.

Thinking back to the first time that she had met Phantom she scolded herself for not being able to pick up on the fact that the boy was part ghost. Really she had been studying them for years! How had she not seen it? But...he looked so much like her son. Like Danny's exact copy. Even if she did get her hands on him how could she do anything to him? It would be as if she was torturing her own child.

Dropping her hands to her lap she glared down at the table. Perhaps it would be better to focus on one task at a time. If she could just catch that one ghost, what was it her son had called him? Night? Than she could figure out that problem first. If only that ghost had never showed up at all, than none of this would be happening. Honestly though with the way that Danny had been all up in arms over the thing she was surprised that he hadn't gone after that one rather than Jack's son. Maybe that was how him and Phantom had met, while Danny was hunting Night and maybe Phantom had been hanging out with him. Maybe Phantom even brought him with them when they moved here because that ghost had never been a problem bef-

"Oh my god."

Maddie paled as her world came to a halt. Jack's son was half ghost. Night had shown up just shortly after she had met Phantom for the first time. Her son had a soft spot for Night, and apparently was seeing Phantom. When she had been at the store looking for that box ghost Phantom had been there, and than Night had appeared.

Night was Jack's son.

Night was Danny Phantom.

She just managed to turn her head and grab the bucket that was placed next to her desk as she lost her dinner from that evening.

Night wasn't just some ghost. He was Jack's son. He was half human, and she had tried to...

She heaved over the bucket again, nothing coming up this time but her body doing everything that it could to try and make it happen.

She'd almost killed him. She'd stabbed him. She'd tracked him down in a warehouse. She'd almost...Dear god what if that had been Danny?

Tears burned at her eyes as she brought her fist to her head, pressing against her forehead hard enough to cause a mild headache. As hard as she tried to fight against it the faceless hoodlum morphed into a wide eyed little boy. A boy who just wanted to live and be okay. A boy that she had harmed and had the intent to kill. Both her hands pressed over her eyes when the white hair turned black, and the green eyes swirled to blue. It was her son. Bleeding and scared with no where to run as she raised her gun to him.

Everything that Night had said came flooding back to her. Every word that he had uttered stabbed at her ears like little pin pricks, refusing to be ignored a second time. Everything that he had mentioned about hunters, every word that he had ever mentioned about his family, about his mother.

She slumped, defeated and exhausted, against her lab chair.

She had known. Even though Vlad had never given her any names. Even though he'd never told her what the ghost he'd caught even looked like, she had known without needing to be told that Vlad had caught the ghost that Jack had run off with. She had done nothing, she'd been happy to know that the one that had caused her so much grief was now suffering. That the one who had taken away her true love was now trapped and stuck in a loop of unending suffering. Thinking back on it now, thinking of the words that Jack had said, there was no doubt in her mind that Vlad hadn't just taken Lydia, but that he had also taken Jack's son.

Phantom would have been Danny's age. He would have been a child of merely eight when Vlad got a hold of him and...

Vlad had told her on more than one occasion just what he did to ghosts at his research facility. Just what kind of funding that he got from the Men in White to try all types of tests that she could only dream of with equipment that she could never hope to buy.

Getting up from her chair she made her way over to her master computer and took a seat. Her fingers flew across the keyboards, getting the system up and running in no time flat. Wasting no time she put her hacking skills to work, breaking into Vlad's laughably easy to break security system before browsing his files. It took her awhile to find the ones that she was looking for, but when she came across a file labelled 'Project 44 GhostHuman Hybrid' she figured that could be the only one that could possibly be it.

Clicking into the file her mouth dropped open at everything that laid inside. There were spreadsheet files and word documents and video files and slid shows. Charts, graphs, incredibly amounts of research all on this one subject, going back as far as nine years. There was some new video footage added just yesterday in fact, and a bit added from the last few weeks that Vlad had been here.

Had Vlad been, had he been watching this kid the whole time?

Deciding that she didn't need to see anything from the present right now she scrolled down until she found the oldest video file. Steeling herself for what she was about to see she clicked on it and waited for it to start.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

She could feel tears already springing to her eyes when once again Phantom morphed into a vision of her own son against her will. Covering her mouth with her hands to keep any sobs from drowning out the child's voice she forced herself to see just what it was that she glorified about their work.

(***)

Danny let out an 'oof' when he was suddenly jarred from the sleeping world by a body dropping onto his own. Groggily he squinted his eyes open to glare at the one who had disturbed him only to see Nights' bright face grinning back.

"Gooood morning!"

"Oh my god. No." Danny grumbled, placing his hand against the boy's face and trying to shove him away before closing his eyes and dropping his head back again. "Not this early in the morning."

"Actually it's already midday."

Cracking open one eye Danny glared at Valerie as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen, a smirk on her face as Nights floated up off of him and into the air.

"We made egg muffins!" He cheered, throwing his hands up with a giant smile over his face.

Refusing to be the reason for that smile to drop Danny forced himself up. He barley managed to push himself to his feet before a plate was shoved into his hands and an extremely happy Nights was grinning from ear to ear.

"Tell me what you think."

Glancing down at the plate in his hands Danny almost couldn't believe his eyes. He'd thought that when Nights had said that they made egg muffins he was talking about the English muffin with the bread the egg and some cheese and pork or something. He had not been expecting a cooked egg surrounded by cupcake paper with frosting on it.

How was he even supposed to eat that?

"Um..." His eyes quickly darted passed the smiling ghost before him and to Valerie. He was hoping that maybe this was some sort of joke that the two were trying to pull off but other than an amused smile, her face gave away nothing. Moving his eyes back to Nights he gave him a small smile as he lifted the eggcake off the plate.

"Um, Nights you know that egg muffins aren't...literately muffins right?"

Oh no. His smile was gone.

"Wait, really?" Nights muttered, his eyes darting down to the object that Danny was holding before he snatched it back. "What a misleading name." He grumbled, mostly to himself as he turned the object in his hands over and over.

Snickering at his apparent fascination with the item Danny quickly placed a kiss on his cheek before he walked passed him and over to where Valerie was standing.

"You didn't think to correct him?" He questioned, arching a brow as she put her hands up.

"Hey, don't blame me. He was really eggcited to try and make them for you on his own."

Giving her a flat look at the pun he than took a quick look behind him to see that the grin over Nights face was back, bringing a smile back to Danny's face as well.

"Nights come on. I'll show you how to make them properly."

"Sweet!" Nights cheered, zooming up to Danny so quickly that it actually stunned the darker haired male. "Can't wait to see you in an apron." The boy winked, making a blush flare across Danny's cheeks while Valerie snickered from their side before he flew into the kitchen.

"You don't need an apron to make egg muffins Nights." He grumbled, his face still red as he followed after the boy.

"Aw." Nights whined, floating upside down from the ceiling as he pouted at Danny. "Don't be a spoilsport."

Danny didn't respond to the jibe, instead he took his time to just stare at the other while he casually sat cross legged on the ceiling. While he was use to Nights just floating around, the guy hadn't bothered to put his hood up or anything this morning and seeing Phantom grinning at him like that was almost surreal. It was like he wasn't seeing Nights at all, like he wasn't seeing a ghost at all but just a human who could do strange things.

He'd thought that once he found out that the two were the same that it would be easy to put them together and see them as one. He'd been fine the last few days because Phantom mostly kept his abilities on the down low, only floating on occasion and nothing more than a few feet off the floor, and tried to keep his hood on as much as possible. To see him 'ghosting' out like it was nothing as Phantom was oddly enough...off setting. There was no way that until even just a bit ago that he would have thought that it would have been possible for ghosts and humans to have kids together. While he was use to the dead defying the rules of everything that earth had to offer he would be the first to admit that seeing a 'human' do it was just plain weird.

As the smile from Nights face fell however he realized that he'd been staring to long. When the boy quickly flicked his hood up and manipulated the light he scowled at himself for making the other uncomfortable. As weird as this must have been for him he could only imagine how Nights was feeling.

"Good job Terminator." Valerie mutter, shouldering him just hard enough to get her message across as she moved passed him and into the kitchen.

As Nights quickly lowered himself to the ground, instead choosing to sit on the counter, Danny frowned at her back. He hadn't mean to upset Nights, that was never something that he would do intentionally, but he supposed that he would have done the same if it had been her who had upset him.

With a long sigh he entered into the room and walked up to where the ingredients were still sitting out on the counter.

"So, after this, what are we going to be doing today?"

He knew that eventually they were going to have to go back to school. In fact that was something they were going to have to do tomorrow, although seeing as how it was Friday he couldn't help but wonder if it was really worth it.

"What do you mean?" Valerie asked, not bothering to look at him as she plopped some bread in the toaster before turning to Nights. "Can you butter those when they get out Hun? I'm gonna slice up some cheese."

"Sure thing Val." Nights muttered as he hopped off the counter and switched places with her.

"I mean about the lab and everything. What can I do to help?" Danny asked, reaching out to snatch up a few eggs, looking around for a small container for a moment before he decided to open the cupboard.

"Well my Dad thinks that you should help me get use to the lab." Nights said from his side, opening up a cupboard and tossing three containers at the other. "Since you seemed to be the only one who could...you know."

Understanding that he didn't really want to talk about what had happened back at the lab the first time Danny gave a nod of his head. Before he continued on he cracked two eggs into each container and than placed them all in the microwave, he took a quick side glance at Nights from the corner of his eye.

"Okay, but who's going to watch me? He told me that he doesn't trust me in there alone, or with Tucker, and I don't think he'd ever let us be alone together."

"That's what I'm here for." Val said, tapping her fingers against the counter while Nights finished buttering up the last piece of the bread. "Thanks." She said with a small smile as she took the offered items from Nights, applying the cheese to them evenly. "Tucker won't be at school today, so he'll meet us in the lab when we get there."

When the microwave went off Danny couldn't help but snicker at the small jump that Nights gave. When the other scowled at him in turn he gave him a somewhat sheepish smile as he pulled the containers out and carefully tipped them on top of the cheese before placing the top bun on them.

"Well, it's not much of a solid plan, but at least it's something." He agreed, picking up one of the egg muffins and handing it over to the halfa. "What do you think Nights?"

Nights' ignored him, instead turning the food over in his hand and muttering to himself about why it was named an egg muffin. Danny didn't want to talk about the fact that the bun was called and English muffin and instead turned to Valerie. She didn't seem to pay him much mind either, moving herself over to the table and taking a seat. Whelp. That was just great. If there was one thing that he knew was going to be important to Nights it would be getting the approval of his closet friend, and so far it appeared that he was nowhere close to one of her favorite people. Nights himself didn't seem to happy with him right now and he didn't know what to do about that. God, he hoped that Nights didn't think that he thought he was some sort of freak. While it was going to take a bit to adjust to with watching him do all his ghostly things while just being Phantom, he knew that he would get use to it eventually.

With his shoulders dropping he turned back to face Nights and snatched up his free hand with his own. Apparently the simple action startled the other, but this time Danny didn't laugh as he gently tugged him towards the table.

"Come on, I think your Dad will kill us if we don't eat at the table."

"Being a ghost isn't so bad." Nights mumbled, but didn't protest as he flopped down into a seat.

Before he took his own spot Danny gently pulled the others hood off and gave him a soft peck on the top of his head. Taking his seat next to him he ignored the silent seething glare from the girl at his side and instead moved his chair closer to the other. He couldn't help but love the smallest of smiles that Nights tried to hide was he watched him out of the corner of his eye.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

He really didn't want to be angry. He was trying his hardest to put himself in a good mood. Nothing he did seemed to work though. His forced laughs were cringe worthy, and his smiles were to wide to be believable, but he didn't want to scowl either. When he couldn't think of anything else he tried to remember some skits from some comedians that he had heard, or just funny things that had happened to him. However those things failed as well and he found himself with a bigger scowl and a darker mood with every forced happy thought. It was as if he was trying to punish himself by thinking of all the times he had been happy, because he certainly wasn't feeling any source of joy right now.

In reality he should have been jumping over the moon. His father told him what he was working on and why he was always away from the house. He knew about Vlad so they would all be better prepared if anything came up. Valerie had come clean about her side job and the fact that all the people he hung out with were ghost relocators that worked with his father. And to top it all off the guy that he'd been crushing on for the last little while had come over to his side and accepted him as a halfa.

Maybe all of that was the reason that he was so on edge. The reason that he was becoming irritated and only growing more and more ridged as they made their way closer and closer to his father's lab.

While everything appeared to be just hunky dory, there was a small scratching in the back of his mind that was hissing about being lied to. Sure while he hadn't told his Dad he was running around and screwing with the hunters, or even that Vlad was in town, he hadn't been hiding an entire base that he'd been working on for the last few years. Sure Val had come clean but not only had she lied to his face countless times and played dumb to knowing about his ghost abilities, so had everyone else that he hung around with at school. He honestly couldn't be happier that Fenton had started to believe him about ghosts and had come to join him, but in the same breath Danny didn't appreciate being stared at like some sort of freak either.

The other two by his side could obviously tell that he was on edge about something, although he couldn't be sure as to just what they thought was bothering him. When Fenton had tried to take a hold of his hand earlier, Danny had quickly shoved his fists into the pockets of his hood. It might have been a petty act but he couldn't really bring himself to care either. Although he did feel a stab of guilt at the hurt look that flashed over Fenton's face for mere seconds, but he quickly buried that too.

Nobody had even bothered speaking as they walked down the street and in the direction of the bases location. He wasn't in the mood for talking and he knew that Fenton was probably running through a list of things in his head, but he had no idea just what was keeping Val from speaking. Of coarse there were no doubt a million things that she was trying to think through before they arrived, but Danny really wished she would say something in order to fill up the awkward air that swarmed around them like a group of angry wasps.

It was when they had just rounded their last corner, the building coming into their view with all it's tall, ugly, blandness, that Fenton placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to stop. Danny didn't even bother to try and downplay the annoyance that was easily readable across his face as he gave a flat stare to the darker haired male. The ex hunter's lips twitched downwards in a frown before he let out a long suffering sigh and took his hand off of Danny's shoulder to run through his dark locks.

"I'm not...When we go in to the building how do you want me to help you?"

Oh. Well he guessed that it might be important to have a bit of a battle plan about this. After all, now he knew just what happened to him when he entered without thinking. He did not want to have another panic attack thank you very much. Still, he wasn't entirely sure about what to do about it. He'd been so busy fuming that he hadn't given any thought at all about what to do once he actually arrived at the place.

With a shrug of his shoulders that was a cross between a jerk and a flinch he freed one of his hands from the confines of his hood and snatched up Fenton's free hand.

"I know what's in there now. I should be okay just...Keep me grounded?"

Fenton's wide eyes stared at him for a moment. Slowly they softened and Danny couldn't help the small flutter in his chest as his hand was lightly squeezed in reassurance. A breath he wasn't even aware he was holding escaped him when Fenton nodded. Deciding that maybe he'd made the other suffer enough he quickly moved forward and placed a small peck to the corner of Fenton's mouth.

"Thanks."

He supposed that he couldn't really be mad at Fenton. This was no doubt a lot to take in and it wasn't the guy's fault for needing some time to adjust. Val had been working around ghosts on friendly terms for years, his father had told her about just what he was. She'd had time to get use to the idea of Danny being half ghost and half human. To Fenton it had all just been dropped on his lap in the last few days. It made sense if he needed a little more time to wrap his head around it.

"Okay lovebirds hurry up." Val called, neither of them realizing just how far they had fallen behind until they looked over to see that she was right next to the door. "We've got a lot of stuff to get done and not a lot of time to do it in."

Taking in a deep breath Danny tightened his grip around Hunter's hand for a brief moment.

"You ready?" Fenton asked, his voice low as he started walking towards the doors that would lead into the labs.

"Nope." Danny mumbled rolling his shoulders back and narrowing his eyes in stubborn determination for whatever was to come next. "Let's do this."

(***)

"Guys for the last time," Tucker grumbled as he dragged his hand down his face, "Danny isn't evil."

"We, like, never said he was." Paulina said, her finely done nails rhythmically tapping against the mug in her hand. "But I'm still not going to trust him."

"Ya, me neither." Dash muttered, his frown pulling down tightly over his face while his brows narrowed over sharp blue eyes. "I like Danny, and I don't trust your little hunter friend not to be pulling any kinda tricks."

Scowling at the three that were sitting with him in the lunch room, Tucker took a large chomp out of his sandwich. He'd been arguing his point over since he'd gotten here after school, and they hadn't let him hear the end of it all the way till they were sitting together for dinner break. He could understand their skepticism, but they didn't know Danny like he did. They hadn't been watching him change and grow for the last few years, and they certainly hadn't seen the difference in the last few months.

Okay, so maybe the hunters were their biggest rivals, and sure, Danny was one of the best hunters around and had wiped out more ghosts one his own in one month than they could save in three, but he wasn't a bad guy. He was just doing what he'd been raised to do. Why couldn't they see just how amazing it was that he had managed to change his mind set? Why couldn't they see just how great it was that he managed to take a step back and pull away?

But not even Tucker could really say that he blamed them. They just wanted to keep Nights safe, and in their mind, Danny was the enemy.

"Let's try this." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose while his eyes shut tight enough to see red. "You can keep your eyes on him. Watch him like a hawk if it makes you feel comfortable, but, under no circumstances are you allowed to confront him or lay a hand on him or say anything to him before either mentioning it to me or Val."

"How's that fair?" Kwan questioned, looking up from the microscope he'd been working with for the last ten minutes.

"I don't want you guys jumping down his throat constantly and I don't want you teaming up on him." Tucker scowled, dropping his hand to cross his arms over his chest. "If you can remember not all of you started out as ghost lovers either."

Narrowing his gaze at every one of them they each looked away in turn. It might have been a bit of a low blow, but Danny was his friends, and even if these guys were two he absolutely refused to allow them to have open season on the exhunter.

"Besides," he continued, the growing grin over his face twisting into a smug smirk, "Nights might not be to happy if he catches you harassing his boyfriend."

"Wait what!?"

"Danny and Fenton?"

"Awww."

Everyone turned to Kwan at the coo that he gave. He blinked at them for a moment, his hands still clasped up by his head before he ever so slowly turned back to whatever it was he had been working on.

"Fine." Paulina was the first one to speak up, jutting her hip out as she turned her full attention back to Tucker. He jumped a little when she jabbed one of her sharp nails into his chest and not for the first time did he find himself grateful that Val didn't partake in her weekly manicures. Those nails could cut glass. "But if your little friend turns on us in any way, I get the first shot."

Putting his hands up in surrender Tucker couldn't help the way it became really hard to swallow at the thought. He'd seen her spar with others before, hell, he'd seen her in action many time. Danny was good, but he was sure that she would give him a run for his money. Not only that but if Danny did something the girls didn't like than they would team up, and that would just end in a lot of broken bones and a wake.

"Alright, that works for me." Tucker said. It's not like he had any way to disagree with the terms at all. "Just one other thing."

He waited until they were all looking at him before he spoke, trying to show the seriousness of his next few words.

"I'm sure everyone knows what happened to Nights, you know, with the labs and whatnot. So, I know that we all love to fool around and can get a little loud and crazy but I'm gonna need you guys to be a little bit calmer around him. When he was in yesterday he..." A frown came to his face as he tried to think of a way to describe what he had seen from the second floor, "had a bit of an attack. We don't want that happening again and we want him to feel safe here. I have seen how he acts when he feels threatened and trust me it's nothing that you guys would be prepared for. So, quick recap,you wanna live, you will not do anything that might trigger him to defend himself alright?"

They all shared a look with each other. They were all friends with Nights, and while they knew that he was half ghost they had never really seen him in action before, but Tucker had. He would be the first to admit that the pure power that the halfa held in him was unbelievable. There was no way that he would have believed that they could have ever gotten that high if his device hadn't been shattered when he'd tried analyzing it on the sly once. What he'd seen through the monitors when Nights had gone mad he was still having a hard time processing. The guy shattered a Fenton Thermos. Those were made to hold the strongest ghosts that they knew of, and Phantom broke out of it in seconds.

The last thing he wanted to have happen was for Nights to fall into a panic attack and turn violent for self preservation against a nonexistent enemy.

"Hey Tucker!"

Snapping out of his thoughts Tucker took a glance over his shoulder at the flirty call of his name. Unable to help himself a stupidly big smile overcame his face at the sight of his beautiful girlfriend walking towards him with the lovebirds trailing shortly behind her.

"Valerie!"

As he turned to face her he threw his arms wide open. His smile getting impossibly bigger when she fell into the offered hug.

"How'd your night go?"

Val didn't respond past making a face and giving a shake of her head. Apparently this was going to have to be something that they spoke about later. He was fine with that. He supposed that she probably just didn't want to start any sort of argument about how she felt about Danny in front of Nights.

"Danny!" Paulina squealed happily, running up to the halfa and throwing her arms around him. "I'm so glad to finally have you here with us!" The smile over her face was blinding, and Tucker didn't miss the way that Danny's hand tightened around Phantom's. "We're going to have so much fun together."

"Um, ya, I'm sure we will." Phantom muttered, a weak smile over his face as he tried to pull out of her hug softly. "But I don't think my Dad is letting me join you right away."

"What?" The shock in Tucker's voice and Danny's expression came up front and centre as the rest of the group eyed the ghost strangely. "I've seen you fight before. What's he worried about?"

He watched as Danny frowned at the way that Nights started to chew on his lip and felt oddly proud of his friend when he tore his attention away from his boyfriend and turned to the group.

"Anybody want to give us a walk through? I saw some of it yesterday, but Nights hasn't seen any of it yet."

Seeing the blunt change in conversation and that Danny wasn't going to let up until they had completely dropped it, Paulina shared a look with Valerie before giving a nod of her head.

"Sure thing. Me and Dash know this place like the back of our hand."

"Ya we do." Dash grinned, walking up behind the two Danny's and throwing an arm around each of their shoulders. "But uh, who's 'Nights'?"

"Since we're both called Danny just call me Nights and him Hunter." Nights said, pointing his thumb in either direction when he said their nicknames.

"It just makes things less confusing." Danny said, warily eyeing the thick arm that was draped over his shoulder as if it was a snake ready to take a strike at him.

"Cute nicknames." Kwan said as he abandoned his research and walked up to the group. Hey! You know what I just realized though!? If you guys got married you'd both be either Danny Phantom or Danny Fenton! Isn't that funny?"

At the bright blush that spilled over both of their faces and the long silence after that, Tucker highly doubted that they thought so.

"Let's get our tour started." Dash said, pushing the two forward as Kwan fell behind them and into step with Paulina.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Watching them walk off Tucker turned back to Val. Her sharp gaze however was zeroed in on Danny's back and he let out a long sigh as he leaned back against the wall.

"He's not going to hurt him Val. You have to know that."

She still didn't face him, her gaze narrowing to an even sharper point as she watched them disappear behind the next corner.

"Maybe not intellectually."

To that he didn't have anything to say. Whatever it was that was going on with Fenton and Phantom it was still new. There was a lot to take in for both of them and it was all still very new. Countless things could happen that could lead to terrible outcomes, but he had a strong inkling that everything was going to be okay in the long run.

From the way that she was frowning however he could tell she was thinking along the same lines, but while he was hoping for the best, she was no doubt preparing for the worst.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

"So, Jack's not letting Nights on the team." Danny said, his back to the wall as Valerie peered around the corner.

"Not yet I guess." She replied, keeping her voice low.

"But he's fine with me being on it?"

"He would be the only one, yes."

"~Not that I want to break up this wonderful team building talk you guys, but we need you to focus up.~"

"Tell him that Kwan."

Frowning at her back Danny let out a heavy sigh as he dropped his head back against the brick wall.

He was use to patrolling with his team. Having a whole new one was just plain weird, and he was pretty sure that they all hated him. It was like they were waiting for him to make just one wrong move so that they could throw him to the wolves. So far, other than the civil tour they had lead him and Nights through earlier, they had yet to even speak to him without making it seem like it was some sort of task.

On another note he found himself flabbergasted about the amount of ghosts they has scooped up and dropped back off at the base already. He'd known that there had been a lot of them at the beginning of the fall, but this just blew all of the out of the water. How on earth had his mother and him not known about this? How on earth could their equipment not...oh...Tucker. Tucker was the one in charge of their monitors most of the time. He was the one who told them where the ghosts were and what not. Right.

If he wasn't so grateful to his friend right now he would have been enraged that Tucker was hiding so much from them. Now he was just relieved about all the ghosts that the guy had managed to save from Maddie, Sam and him.

When Valerie moved her position, slowly edging around the corner to stand directly behind the ghost, he quickly abandoned his thoughts and got his head back in the game.

Whether they accepted him or not wasn't the point right now. At this moment he was Valerie's partner, and he was supposed to be watching her back. He wasn't about to let some tension cost him the health of his comrade. Getting his stun gun ready he waited for her to make the first move.

(***)

Danny didn't know what he'd thought the following school day was going to be like. Really he hadn't had much time to think about anything lately. All of the events in his life recently had been coming out of nowhere and at such a fast and continuous pace that he was left knocked off his feet and left tripping for a foothold. He'd always been a bit of a control freak, so having his perfectly planned and scheduled life being placed in a blender and set to max had left his head in a spin.

Still...school.

He'd been hoping that it would have been the one place left untouched by the rest of this chaotic dance he was now calling his life, but it didn't seem that he could even snatch that small comfort.

At school he wasn't allowed to be seen around the others of the GRR group, although he wasn't to choked up about that and he was sure that they shared the same feelings. He could live with pretending that they didn't really know each other passed the fact that they were schoolmates. That was just fine. What was a little less so was that he also had to pretend that he didn't know Nights. That he had to work hard on not staring at the boy or trying to get his attention or try and make him smile or laugh or even just talk to him.

Him and Phantom had never really spoken at school. They'd never really had a reason too, but if he started to walk up to him out of the blue and act liked they were the best of friends? Sam would be on him in a second. She wasn't stupid at all, and her intelligence is what made her such a great hunter. She would figure out what was going on. She'd put the pieces together faster than a super computer and than it would all be over. She'd tell his mother and Vlad and they would swoop in and snatch up Nights before any of them would be able to blink.

For his own safety and the safety of GRR, he asked Tucker to let him in on what he did to keep himself from letting on that he and Valerie were dating and only stole glances at Nights when he was were absolutely sure that no one was looking.

Another thing that had changed about school was Sam.

She wouldn't even look at him aside from the ultimate glare of betrayal that he caught every once and awhile and the looks of pity and concern when she thought he wasn't looking. Sam was his best friend, and he knew that more than anything right now she was just hurt and upset, and Danny really couldn't blame her.

He'd just thrown all the years that they had spent together in her face. He'd just taken all of the blood and sweat that they had worked through, the years of gruelling research and training and abandoned it as if it had been nothing. If he was in her shoes he would have been pissed too.

In the end, Tucker had become their communicator and would relay messages back and forth for them. Danny hated it, but he supposed that if this is where they had to start than he was fine with it. Things couldn't go on this way. Eventually he would get Sam back on his side and show her just what they had been missing all of these years, he'd show her just how blind they had been. But for right now, he needed to work on baby steps.

(***)

"Hunter!"

Danny was almost knocked over by the armful of happy ghost that launched at him the second he was back in the lab. Quickly taking a step back he managed to wrap his arms around the others waist and stabilize them a little before they could both fall over. Nights snickered at him, the bright smile over his face making any of the anger Danny had been feeling earlier melt away as he found himself chuckling along with him.

"How'd everything go? Did you have fun?"

It took Danny a second to realize that the reason Nights was so light was that he was floating, but he didn't let the surprise show over his face. He was becoming more and more use to the fact that Nights had ghost powers the more that he was around the boy using them openly. The last thing that he wanted to do was to set them back again. They'd been going for a good two weeks strong with no mishaps or long awkward pauses. He didn't want to blow that by pointing out he was strong enough to hold the others full weight and say that he didn't need to fly. Besides, Nights always seemed happiest when he was floating around.

"It was alright." He admitted, giving a quick peck to the top of the boy's forehead before he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"Can you move out of the doorway please?"

"Sorry Val, my bad." Night grinned, gently tugging on Danny's arm to move him out of the way of the others.

"It's no problem Danny." She said, the only smile Danny had seen on her all night going right through him and directed straight for Nights.

He tried not to think on it to much as Nights pulled him over to the side. He just couldn't get into this group. He didn't even know what to do or where to start. They weren't giving him much to work with at all.

When the two finally came to a stop he let out yet another long sigh and used his free hand to rub at his eyes.

"Hey,"

Dropping his hand down to just past his eyes he took a look at the small frown over Nights' face.

"You okay?"

"Ya." Danny muttered, forcing a smile back over his lips if only to make the white haired teen feel better. "Ya, I'm fine babe." He loved the blush that highlighted the others cheeks at the new nickname but he chose not to tease the boy about it as he intertwined their fingers together. "How've you been down here?"

Although the blush was still on his cheeks it quickly faded as Nights rolled his eyes and gave a look over Danny's shoulder to stare at the computer monitors he'd been grounded to.

"I'm going to die of boredom." He hissed. "I miss being out there. It gave me more room to stretch my legs and burn off some energy. This," he grumbled while waving his hand around in the computers general direction, "is cruel and unusual punishment."

"Maybe next time don't sneak off and try to join in the fight than hm?" Danny snickered, earning himself a stuck out tongue that only made him laugh harder.

"Danny!"

"Yes?"

When they both answered in unison to Tucker's call he blinked at them. A second later and he rubbed at the back of his head with a sheepish smile over his face and pointed a finger at Danny.

"Sorry guys, I meant Hunter."

"Oh." The rejection laced in Nights' voice drew Danny's attention back to the halfa as he reached out and lightly ruffled his hair in comfort.

"Sorry Hunter but I need you to fill in your files and go over the details with Kwan before you leave tonight."

"Sure thing Tucker." Danny called over his shoulder while Nights let a small smile work it's way over his face.

"Guess I'm not the only one with boring work to do." He said, his voice soft as he moved in a little closer.

"Well, if you wanted you could keep me compa..."

"Danny!"

"What!?"

They both regretted snapping the second they looked over to see who had called and saw Jack's look of surprise.

Oops.

The older man's eyes ever so slowly narrowed and Danny couldn't help the sudden drop in his stomach. At this rate he was never going to win over the approval he needed from Nights' father.

"Ah, sorry Jack we thought you were...someone else..." He knew that wasn't going to make it any better. Jack didn't like when they snapped at each other or treated each other with disrespect. It broke down team dynamics and made them weaker as a unit.

He just wished that the rest of the team felt the same way...

"Oh, you just thought it was someone else? That's great Fenton." Danny had no idea how Jack managed to sound that sarcastic with such a straight face, but he was starting to see where Nights got a bit of his attitude from. "I believe you have some paperwork to be doing."

Whelp, he was in the dog house now. No need to make it any worse.

"I'll talk to you later." He sighed, turning back to Phantom.

He hated the look over Nights' face after those words left his mouth. If he could he would have stayed longer but he knew he was already pushing it. They did not like wasting time here when something had to be done but he'd rarely been able to see much of Nights since he started working for the boy's father.

Lifting Phantom's hand, that was still clasped in his own after all this time, he gave it a light brush of his lips. He smiled softly at the red that lit up the others cheeks again before slowly dropping it and moving back over to his side of the lab.

As he walked passed Jack he could have almost sworn that the guy was going to reach over and throttle him, but he didn't and Danny quickly made his way back over to where Tucker was to collect the files he needed to fill out his paper work.

"Now Danny I want you to..."

He didn't hear the rest of what was being said to Nights, but he did give a quick glance over his shoulder to see the others face one last time before the hours of boredom he was about to start would render him brain dead.

(***)

"Maddie my dear, you must be exhausted."

It was strange how the very voice she had found so much comfort in for so many years now made a shiver crawl down her spine and goosebumps appear across her skin. As she turned her head to look over her shoulder she made sure to plaster on the most open smile she could manage in the dimly lit lab of her basement.

"I've been finding it hard to sleep lately." That wasn't a lie. Ever since Danny had walked out and Jack had made his reappearance she'd barely caught a wink in the last three weeks.

"You poor thing. You must let me know if there is anything that I can help you with."

"Thank you Vlad." Maddie said, forcing the soft smile over her face as she locked her gaze with his. "That means a lot to me, but I think I would just like to be alone for a little while longer. I promise that I'll sleep eventually, but there's just some things that I have to go over."

It was really hard for her not to flinch when he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Keeping up her facade was taking more of an effort the longer that he stared at her with his soft purple orbs. To him, nothing between them had changed, but Maddie had been reading about his research. She'd been hacking into his files and seeing just what he'd been up to.

While she was no saint and had done her own fair share of testing on ghosts even she had never gone as far as she had witnessed him doing. His work went beyond research, it went beyond anger and hate. It was far past the point of being inhumanly cruel. She couldn't believe that she had left him alone with her kids sometimes, that she had ever felt comfortable enough to allow him to teach them.

If she knew than what she knew now she wouldn't have ever let Vlad near his son.

"If you insist." Vlad said, his soothing voice a ruse to lure his victims "I'll be in my room if you're in need of my assistance."

"Thank you Vlad."

She could only relax the moment that the door slid shut behind him. Letting out a deep breath as she sunk back into her chair.

Although she still didn't know where she stood in her argument with ghosts she knew that she could never take Vlad's side again.

(***)

Danny's head snapped up from his text book at the sound of the front door opening. Without a second thought he tossed the item to the side and awkwardly fumbled out of his bed until both of his feet hit the floor. He didn't bother wasting his time with the door and instead flew right threw it as a wide smile broke out over his face.

Rounding the corner of the kitchen he saw both his father and Hunter standing in the door way. They were both in the middle of removing their shoes, but he didn't mind as he floated over to them, his hand waving before they even looked up.

"Hey guys! Welcome back!" He grinned, knowing better than to get to much in their face and instead hanging back a little.

"Hey Nights." Danny said, his smile appearing to be such an effort that it was actually worrisome.

If his father didn't look just as exhausted, Danny would have thought that they were over working the ex hunter on purpose.

Holding back how much he really just wanted to bombard them with questions and spend as much time with them as he could Danny crossed his arms over his chest and gave them a light smirk. When Hunter drew in closer he arched a brow up at him and tilted his head just the slightest bit to the side.

"Would you like me to throw some pizza into the oven while you guys get ready for bed?"

"Ohmygodyes." Danny groaned, dropping his head on the others shoulder and leaning most of his weight on him. "'m so tired."

"That would be great son. Thank you." Jack said, snatching the back of Fenton's jacket as he passed and pulling him to follow.

"Alright, I'll get it ready."

When Hunter tossed him a small smile over his shoulder Danny felt his heart swell and break all at once. The corners of his lips twitched upwards briefly before they fell with a sigh and he made his way into the kitchen.

(***)

"Nights what are we doing?" Danny mumbled as he followed behind the boy, Tucker at his side while the ghost drifted a few feet in the air.

He was beyond tried right now and all he wanted to do on his first day off in...ever really, was sleep. Nights had insisted that he had to come out and see something though and he'd yet to find a way to resist his pouting face if he said no. So here he was, wandering around outside in the middle of the night when he could be sleeping with his 'babysitter' of the hour trailing after them.

"You'll see." Nights grinned stretching himself out as he came to a sudden stop and started to look around. "Now where did she...Aha! Hey!"

Danny had no idea who Nights was waving to in the distance, but he certainly hoped that it wasn't Valerie. The last thing he wanted to do right now was be dragged into some weird type of double date thing. Although Tucker was his best friend and got along with Nights just fine, the same could not be said for him and Val. He swore that there were times that she was still secretly planning to get him kicked off the team somehow.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" He mumbled, taking a glance over at his darker skinned friend while Tucker just shrugged his shoulder in turn.

"Sorry dude. I'm just as clueless as you are here."

"Come on Hunter!" Nights called, zooming forward to great the female in the distance.

Carefully watching the boy's shadow Danny figured that it wasn't Valerie when the boy didn't tackle whoever it was with a hug. As he was quickly finding out Nights didn't seem to care much about the personal space of others. He was constantly hanging off of people and hugging them, but only if he knew that they were comfortable with it. With complete strangers or casual acquaintances he would keep a fair distance but still remain friendly enough to not come across as rude.

So it raised the question of who Nights trusted enough to meet up with at two thirty in the morning at the park, and yet wouldn't cling to on sight.

As he drew closer however he found his gaze widening at the familiar voice that flowed from the dark silhouette in the shadows of one of the many trees.

"Jazz?"

"Danny!"

He nearly fell over when she launched herself at him, gasping for air when she squeezed him hard enough to make his ribs groan. Thankfully she didn't keep up her hold for very long and in the blink of an eye she was holding him out at arms length, a bright smile lighting up her face.

"It's been a long time little brother."

Danny was to stunned to reply at first. It had been almost a month since he'd seen her last. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Jazz snickered at his frazzle state, nodding her head in a vague direction behind her. "He came up to me when I was getting some groceries. He said that I should come see you."

Taking a glance over at Nights as the boy waved back, Danny continued to stare at the pair of them in complete astonishment.

"We'll give you guys some time to talk." Nights said, floating back over to Danny's side and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Meet us by the fountain when your done."

Danny didn't have any time to reply before the ghost halfa snatched up his best friend and took off back the way they had come. He stared after him a little bit longer before he finally turned around and took in the sight of his sister.

There were so many things that he wanted to ask her. How was Mom doing? How was Sam doing? How was she doing? How were her classes going? Did she manage to finally see that movie she'd been going on about all summer that had come out two weeks ago? Were things different at home? What was Vlad up to? So many questions, and yet he found that he couldn't get any of them out.

"He's an...interesting guy, your boyfriend."

"Uh, ya um, Nights is something else." He agreed, giving a small shake of his head while he tried to rearrange his thoughts. "I'm...I'm sorry Jazz."

Even though he really should have been groveling at her feet right now she still appeared shocked that he was apologizing at all.

"What are you talking about?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side as she brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

"This is..." Danny trailed off while he tried to think of what to say. "This is all my fault. I didn't mean to cause such a mess but I..."

"Danny." Jazz brought an end to his small rambling, her hands clasping around his upper arms firmly as she drew his attention toward hers. "This isn't your fault. There's nothing to apologize for. Everyone's just got...different opinions right now. We'll work through this little brother. We always do."

Giving her a soft smile in turn he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Thanks Jazz."

She squeezed him back for a second longer until she gave him a gentle push, holding him out at arms length.

"Enough of that sappy stuff though, what have you been up too? I haven't even gotten so much as a simple text for you or anything."

"Ah ya, about that..." Danny said with a forced chuckle as he wrung his hands together. "They gave me another phone to use and took my old one so they'd know who I'm talking to. It's not forever or anything it's just to make sure that I'm not going behind their backs and what not. They don't want me to contact Vlad or Mom or Sam. Can't say I blame them though. I mean if any of them got their hands on the stuff in those labs? It would be a whole new playing field."

"Other labs? I thought it was just you guys." Jazz muttered.

"Oh you have no idea."

For the next hour Danny went over everything with his sister. The labs, the other ghosts, the safe tests that they did and all of the other hunters. He left out names and locations of course. He wasn't an idiot. Jack would kill him for letting that much information slip if he ever found out, but still, it was nice to have someone to talk about this stuff with. He never wanted to being up any sort of negative feeling with Nights or Tucker since they were friends with the others and had grown to see it as a second home. It was nice to complain to his sister about how his other 'teammates' were still playing juvenile tricks on him and even going so low as eating his dessert when he wasn't looking. Or to tell her how frustrating it was that he wasn't allowed to be alone with Nights ever and how infuriating it was that they still didn't trust him all that much.

He would have continued on and on, but a loud screech followed shortly by a splash and a bout of laughter interrupted him in the middle of another rant.

"Nights must be getting stir crazy." Danny muttered, turning his gaze away from the path and back to his sister.

"You should be getting back." She sighed, a small smile on her face as she looked back at him.

Danny returned the smile before it slipped into a frown as another thought crossed his mind.

"Have you been keeping an eye on Vlad?"

Apparently she was ready for this question as she crossed her arms over her chest and a look of seriousness overcame her face.

"Ya, but he's been weird. I haven't seen him working on anything really and he spends most of his time on the couch reading. When he's not doing that he's tinkering away on some sort of staff thing in his bedroom."

"Uh, what?"

"I broke into his room one day when he was out." Jazz said, keeping her voice low although there was no one around to hear them. "And he had this weird looking staff just laying on his desk with all these coded notes and what not. I have no idea what he's thinking about using it for but if he's got it than it can't be anything good. Also Sam's been coming over to talk to him-a lot. She's coming over almost multiple times a day and asking him if his plan is ready yet and whatnot. I know they're up to something, I just have no idea what it is."

"Okay." Taking in the new information with a nod of his head Danny stored it away for later. He'd never heard of any type of staff being useful against a ghost before, but maybe he could look something up at GRR. If anyone would know about the danger effects of an item it would be them. "And what's Mom been up to?"

At that Jazz went silent. Her mouth opening but no words coming out as she tried again only to give a shrug of her shoulders.

"I don't...know. Most of the time she just spends in her lab looking over some files or something. I have no idea what she's looking at or what she's doing other than that but..."

"It's okay Jazz." Danny assured her, moving closer to give her one last hug. "Thanks for everything. I'll try to stay in touch more alright?"

"You better." She said, her lips barely curling up in the corners to form a shadow of a smile. "The house feels weird without you in it."

"I'll be back soon." Danny assured her. "Don't worry."

(***)

"Vlad we need to talk."

Sam didn't give him any time to response as she stormed into his room, slamming the door shut behind her and towering over him as he sat at his desk.

Her rage was only further fulled when he didn't react and took his own sweet time in finishing up what he was working on. No doubt more notes on that stupid, useless staff Walker had given him. God how she hated that thing.

"What ever plan that your cooking up has to be put into action right now. We're losing Danny! Everyday that he spends with that thing is just another nail in his coffin. We have to get him out of there!"

Still he finished up what he was writing before he ever so slowly put his pencil down. She could have sworn that every action he took was ten times slower than normal just to further prod at her. Refusing to rise to such obvious bait she crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at him.

"I have told you many times child. You can not rush this. It will come about in its own way."

"That's bullshit!"

"Watch your language young lady."

He was finally looking at her. Finally she had his full attention. And he still didn't seem like he was going to talk any time soon about any sort of plan.

"You know what? I'm done." She hissed. "You can keep ignoring the problem and just sitting by while Danny walks closer and closer to his death, but I'm not doing it any more. I'm going to get him back."

When she spun around and marched out of his room she missed the slow smirk that crawled over his face.

(***)

"This sucks."

His words drew Valerie's attention upwards as Paulina applied a second coat to her nails.

"What's wrong? I thought that you would be thrilled that Fenton is here." Her brows drew together as she slowly pulled her hand away from her friend to inspect her work.

"Ya, and I would be." Danny muttered, rolling around on Paulina's bed so that he could stare at them upside down. "But we never get to hang out anymore or...um, you know, do anything together. It's either he's always working or I am or someone is always around. It's starting to drive me a little nuts and it's no fun. I'm stuck inside that stupid lab every day after school going over paper work and seeing to files. I miss being out there and whatnot, and I miss being able to actually hangout with Hunter."

Somewhere in his small rant they had both turned to him, but he didn't noticed as he continued to go on while scowling at the ceiling.

"I mean I get it okay. I know you guys don't like him or trust him or anything and that my Dad doesn't want us to be left alone together but come on! He's been with us for a month and a half now. Don't you think if he was going to do something he would have done it already?"

"Danny."

Tilting his head back to eye the girls he didn't bother dropping his frown any while he stiffly crossed his arms over his chest.

"What?"

"We like, didn't mean to make you feel that way." Paulina said, her brows furrowed in guilt as her gaze dropped from his own. "We just want to look out for you."

"Ya I mean, can you blame us? Fenton's been our sworn enemy since we started this job. It's just weird to have him on this side now." Valerie put in, her gaze locked with his as she spoke. "We know you like him but that's why we're keeping an eye on him. What if your emotions are blinding your judgment?"

Scoffing at the very idea Danny flipped himself off of the bed and on to his feet while turning to face the girls all in one smooth movement.

"I can see where you're coming from. Really, I can, but can you please try and remember to see it from my point of view too? And Hunter's? He was raised to hunt. Shouldn't it be enough for you guys that he's left everything behind to try and change?"

He watched carefully as the two exchanged a look before they both sighed and turned back to face him. Paulina smile up at him softly as she screwed the cap back on the bottle of nail polish she'd been using.

"I have to admit that you two make an adorable couple." She agreed, "and it does suck that you two don't get to spend any alone time together."

"But we might be able to help." Valerie said, her words making Danny perk up in interest while he crouched down beside her.

"Go on."

(***)

"Hunter!"

Danny jumped when a large stack of papers was dropped next to him with a loud 'bang'. Snapping his head up to glare at the one who had so rudely interrupted his paperwork he had to bite down on his tongue at the sight of Valerie standing next to his side.

"I need a copy of all of these." She said, her expression flat and her eyes holding such a look of boredom she might as well have been talking to a wall.

"Well, it looks like it might take you awhile so you might want to get to it." He mumbled, turning back to his own work. Like hell he was going to do her workload for her.

"Sorry, but I've been called back out, and these need to be done."

Danny took a moment to just glare at the table in front of him. He knew that arguing would get him no where and neither would snapping at her. Running a hand over his face he allowed himself to take a moment to breath in deeply before he waved his free hand at her.

"Fine, but I'm going to do it after I finish my own work."

With a shrug of her shoulders she turned to walk away.

"Just don't take to long."

Ya because the photocopier had such pressing matters to attend to.

Rolling his eyes he turned back to where he'd left off and continued on.

It took him another ten minutes, but he was finally done with his own sheets. With a smile over his face he almost completely forgot about the other load of work she had dumped on him until he stood up and saw it there. Photocopying all of that stuff was going to take hours. God, why didn't they just print it off or something? Seeing as how whining wasn't going to change anything he picked up the large stack in one arm and snatched up his own few papers in the other.

Taking a glance at the papers he would be copying he wondered why they even needed them. It just looked like everyone else paperwork. They didn't need copies of that. What was the point of this? To waste his time? He could understand why they were so wary of him but come on. It had to reach a certain point didn't it?

"Done already Danny?" Tucker asked as they passed each other in the hall.

"Ya, almost. Valerie just wants me to copy something for her so I'll just be a little longer."

"Alright than. We're all going to be studying for Lancer's test in the cafe if you want to join us when you're finished."

Giving a nod of his head he shoved open the door with his shoulder and continued to grumble lowly to himself as he thumb through the rest of the pages.

"Kwan, Paulina, Dash...even Tucker? Oh man, come on."

"Boo."

He reacted upon instinct, the papers falling from his hands in a blizzard of white as he spun around and grabbed at his attackers neck. Slamming them into the door he all about snarled into their face until he came eye to eye with a pair of dazzling green orbs. His rough treatment didn't seem to bother Nights any, if anything he looked as if he'd been ready for it while a smirk twisted at the corners of his lips as he grabbed a fistful of Danny's jacket and tugged him forward.

"Playing a little rough aren't cha?" The boy snickered, no doubt finding great amusement at the dopey wide eyed stare he was receiving from his mirror image.

"Nights?"

"The one and only." The boy grinned, apparently not seeing anything wrong with the situation.

Releasing his hold as if he'd been burned Danny took a few good steps back. "Shit. Sorry I didn't...I didn't know that you'd be...I didn't realize that it was...Are you okay?"

Whelp, this was awkward. He hadn't been alone with Nights in so long and the first chance he got he attack the guy. Maybe his friends were right. Maybe Hunter was to dangerous to be around him.

His reaction however created the smirk to slid into a frown. Cocking his head to the side Nights eyed his frazzle state for a moment before he took a few careful steps towards the other.

"Ya, I'm fine. You didn't hurt me, don't worry."

"Okay that's...good..."

The thick silence that followed after that left them both swimming in uncertain waters. Danny felt like he was going to drown soon if he didn't do something, but he wasn't sure what he was even allowed to do. He wasn't supposed to be around Nights alone, hell, now that he was thinking about it he wasn't supposed to be anywhere alone. Was this one of their tests? Was Valerie testing him right now? Watching and waiting for him to fail because he didn't ask anyone to come back with him? Was Nights in on this? Or was he being tricked too? Was any of this even just a trick or..?

"You know," Nights mumbled, sliding closer as his eyes went flat and a single brow quirked upwards, "normally when people see someone that they haven't seen in awhile they give them a kiss or something."

There was no way that this was a trick. Nights wouldn't joke about their relationship, whatever it was, like this. And there was no way that he would allow his friends to trick Danny like this either. Which could only mean that Valerie would have known that Phantom would be in here waiting, which meant that they had planned this together so that Danny and Nights could be alone together for once.

Still, the responsible part of his brain just had to speak up.

"Nights, if your Dad, or anyone else for that matter, catches us we could get in so much trouble."

"Soooo..." Nights took a few steps back as he looked up at the other innocently with the brightest pair of green eyes Danny had ever seen. "you don't want to make out until than I take it?"

This would get them in so much trouble if they were to get caught. Jack would never trust him around his son again and if the whole group wasn't in on it and they caught them than he knew he was going to be dealing with nonstop harassment. The second that Nights bit his bottom lip however he found that he didn't care what might happen.

"Come here you."

Wrapping an arm around Nights' waist he wasted no time in pulling the other male up against him. Without another second to be spared he brought their lips together for the first time in what felt like forever.

Phantom melted all to easily against him. His hands sliding up Danny's back to pull him in impossibly closer, as if he was trying to merge them into one being. Smiling against the others lips Danny moved his hand up to cupped the other cheek, tilting his head and deepening the kiss.

Pulling back, their lightly panted breath mixed together as he took in the sight of the lighter haired male. Nights' cheeks were perfectly flushed and even just from that one kiss his eyes had already gone dark. When the boy finally got a little more of his barrings back he turned his own gaze to the pair of bright baby blues that were watching him. When his smirk snaked its way back onto his face Danny could feel his stomach flip and his hands tightening in the places they held.

"That all ya got?" He purred, sliding his hands back around to run up Danny's chest.

Letting out a low growl Danny shoved him against the wall next to the door, earning himself a surprised yip from the other teen. Moving his hands down to under the others ass he hoisted him up until Nights got the message and wrapped his legs around his waist. Instead of moving back to the boy's lips like he wanted, he turned his teeth to his neck.

Nights let out a soft gasp, arching into his hold as Danny moaned at the taste of him on his tongue. God, there were so many things that he wanted to do to Nights right now. So many things he'd been dreaming about, knowing that the boy was just down the hall. In all of the time that they had finally really known each other, in all the time that they no longer had to hide behind masks, it had been a living hell. Nights was there the whole time, right in front of him and he wasn't allowed so much as a little touch. It was infuriating.

And now here he was. Little moaning sounds slipping passed kiss swollen lips as he tried to keep his voice from alerting anyone outside the door. Pressed up against the wall and just so trusting that Danny wouldn't do anything to hurt him like all his friends and father feared. Gripping the back of Danny's hair with just the right amount of pressure to have him biting down on the curve of his throat just a little bit harder in approval. It was perfect. He was perfect.

"I missed you." He muttered against the others throat, Nights chuckling at his words.

"We barely go a day without seeing each other." The ghost teen resorted earning himself a nip for his cheekiness.

"You know what I mean." Danny growled dragging his tongue up his throat and to the shell of his ear. "I've had so many dreams about this."

Nights' whine was cut short when Danny slipped one hand under his shirt and the other down the back of his thigh, his fingertips leaving feather light touches to the inner part of his leg that left the halfa biting down on his lip to keep quiet.

"About finally getting you alone and doing all sorts of things to you."

Finally he moved back to the boy's lips, blocking off any small noises that Nights let slip. Nights was all to eager to return the gesture, his tongue gently lapping at Danny's lips and begging for entrance. Unable to help himself Danny snickered at the others enthusiasm, opening his mouth and meeting his tongue with his own. Every so slightly he dragged his nails up along the knobs of the others spine, causing Nights to arch and gasp, allowing Danny to win their fight for dominance.

"Cheater." Nights pouted once he had pulled back, both of their chests rising and falling quickly.

"Never said I played fair." Danny chuckled, slipping his hand out from underneath his shirt so he could hold the boy's flushing cheek instead.

Bringing their lips together once more he didn't escalate things past a light pressure. While there was still more he wanted to do, and he wished for nothing more than to be able to have Night writhing in pleasure and screaming his name, he didn't want to do it here. Not in a place where anyone could walk in on them at any moment and than keep them apart for the rest of their lives once they reported it to Jack. He liked his head where it was and he would much prefer to keep it there.

Slowly he moved away from the wall, making sure that Nights had his feet underneath him before he let him go. Catching on to what he was doing Nights let out a huff but didn't protest, no doubt knowing just as much as Danny did about what could happen if they were to get caught.

"Tease." He grumbled out, fixing his clothing and a few other things while Danny snickered at him once again.

"Well just think. The next time we do this we should do it in a place that my boss and your Dad isn't lurking around somewhere." He said, bending down to scoop up the papers that had fallen to the floor earlier.

"Ya I guess." Nights agreed crouching down to help. "But really what are the chances that..."

Whatever Nights was about to say was cut off as the door went flying open. The sudden motion startled both the boys so badly that any papers they had scooped up fell to the floor again as Jack stood like a towering behemoth in the doorway.

"I heard someone groaning in pain in here is everything..." He slowly trailed off as he looked down at the two who were still crouching down at his feet.

Danny had never felt so small and scared shitless in his life. He hoped to god that Jack didn't catch on to anything that had been going on.

Nights, bless his quick thinking wit, floated up to his feet and gave his father a sheepish smile.

"Sorry Dad, that was my bad. I saw Hunter coming in here and thought it would be funny to scare him."

Seeing as how the papers were everywhere and that Nights really had scared him at first Danny couldn't have been happier with the half truth that the other had given.

"Where's the person who's supposed to be watching you?" Jack asked, eyeing the boy skeptically before his narrowed gaze moved to the papers on the floor.

"Ah, I think Tucker said he was studying with some people and Valerie said she was going out on patrol. I didn't think I was going to take to long and I didn't want to bother anyone."

They both watched in bated silence as Jack crouched down and scooped up one of the papers. Danny felt like he could barely breath as the man looked over the sheet, his brows furrowing as he read over everyone's reports for the night.

"We don't copy these." He muttered, his eyes turning back to Danny as the boy gave a light shrug of his shoulders.

"Um, Valerie said that she had to go back on patrol but that these papers had to be copied so she told me to do them. I figured we didn't need them, but I didn't want to argue with her."

For a long, long agonizing moment, Jack just stared at him. Than he turned his gaze to his son and than back and forth and back and forth again. As the minutes stretched out the giant of a man let out a long sigh and moved away from the door.

"You two get out of here for the night."

Eyes widening in shock Danny and Nights shared a look together before they both looked back at Jack.

"You want us to leave...together?" Danny asked, knowing it was to good to be true but still holding out hope.

When Jack gave a nod of his head though neither of them could stop the smiles that nearly split their faces in two.

"Cool! I'll go grab someone and..."

"No." Jack said, snatching his son's arm before Nights could fly away to kidnap someone. "No, just, you two can go...alone."

Wait, what? Was he hearing this right? Jack was allowing them to just go off by themselves without anyone watching over them? He trusted Danny alone with his son?

"I have a feeling that the team might be...a little hard on you Hunter, as have I, but, you're a good kid. I'll make sure to tell Kwan to stop monitoring your phone and to give you back your old one."

Danny could feel his heart swelling in pride as he stood up and gave a nod of his head.

"Thanks Jack."

Jack smiled at him in return, but his face quickly grew dark again as he leaned in closer and blocked out most of the light with his massive body.

"But if I get home and see that my son is missing or not walking straight or has anymore bite marks to add to the ones you've already given him, I swear that after I'm done with you you'll look even worse than the ghosts that we find."

Gulping down the thick ball of nerves that had crawled up his throat Danny could do nothing other than nod. Nights thankfully flew in just than to get between the two as he wrapped his arms around Danny's waist and rested his head on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine Dad. Promise." The boy said, his words having a calming effect on the man as he let out a long sigh and backed out of Danny's personal space.

"Alright. But remember you still have school tomorrow so don't stay out to late."

"Roger that."

Danny could feel his whole body going intangible and the sharp swoop in his stomach as Nights lifted him in the ground and flew up the building until they were out into the wide open space of the city.


	39. Chapter 39

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 39

Sam was really going to have to up her game if she wanted to help Danny.

She knew that he'd left them to help that ghost, or be with it, or something, but oddly enough ever since that night when he had walked out of their lives, she hadn't seen even a spectral wisp of the ghostly menace. She'd been hoping that maybe she could catch it. That if she could get her hands on it than she could figure out just what kind of ghostly spell it had cast on her friend and reverse it.

Yet she had nothing to go on.

Watching Danny during school hours did little to help her out either. Other than Tucker, he didn't really talk to anyone else. Just what was he up to? Where was he even staying? It was getting colder and her stomach dropped at the thought of him on the streets. There's no way that anyone would have let that happen though, and Danny looked well taken care of so she quickly dismissed the idea and turned back to her original plans.

While she didn't have the ghost right now, that wasn't even her biggest problem. No. Her biggest problem was going to be what she did once she got a hold of him.

Than again maybe catching the ghost wasn't the answer. She'd seen first hand how loyal Danny was to that thing. If she did anything to it than it would only make their bond stronger.

"Uh, you okay Sam?"

Breaking out of her thoughts she turned to her only friend left and sent him a sharp glare.

"Right, right. Sorry, stupid question." Tucker muttered, putting his hands up in defence as he leaned back in the bleacher and turned his attention back to the game that the 'popular kids' were playing.

Guilt twisted in her gut over the frown on his face. Even though she hadn't said anything she didn't mean to lash out at Tucker. It wasn't his fault that any of this was happening and it had to be awkward for the guy to have two of his best friends fighting each other. Really though, Sam guessed she was the only one fighting at this point. Danny didn't seem to interested in trying to actively avoid her or anything, she was the one who was refusing to talk or play nice.

Letting out a long sigh she dropped her chin in her hands as she gave a quick glance over to the one who was sitting on the other side of the gym. Danny had invited them to sit with him but Sam had ignored him and Tucker had apologized before he followed after her. It killed her to have to do this to Danny, but maybe it would help him see just how she felt, how betrayed she'd been when he'd chosen their side over her. They'd been friends for so many years, through thick and thin together and he'd thrown that all away for some ectoplasma freak.

Before she could give it much more thought, Dash swooped in to steal the ball from Phantom. He came in to hot however and Phantom was sent flying back and smashed into the ground, hard. He was quick to get back on his feet, waving off Dash's concern and apology with a smile on his face but what interested Sam more was Danny.

He'd gone rigid the moment Phantom had been hit, and appeared to be forcing himself to stay seated when the boy got up. Narrowing suspicious purple eyes at him, she watched carefully as Phantom ran over to grab the ball which had rolled by Danny's bench.

Although there was no way that she could hear him across the gym she could see him clearly mouthing out the words 'are you okay?' to the white haired teen. With Phantom's back to her she couldn't tell what his response was but from the way that Danny finally relaxed she could only assume that he must have said he was fine. When Phantom turned back to face her however she could feel all of the pieces clicking at the sight of the soft curve at the corners of his lips.

Those two were dating. There was no doubt in her mind about that. Danny was seeing the ghost. Phantom was that stupid spectral menace!

The realization felt like a physical blow, knocking the air from her lungs and leaving her breathless. Honestly if she'd paid more attention to Phantom she was sure that she would have caught onto this way sooner. Phantom was the only new student. 'Nights' as Danny 'oh so lovingly' called him, had shown up shortly after. Whenever Danny had to disappear to catch a ghost during school hours half the time he was denied a bathroom pass because Phantom slipped out with it earlier.

That couldn't honestly be a thing though. Phantom was human. Nights was a ghost. There was no way that they could be the same person and yet...

If it was able to pull off such a convincing human appearance...just how strong was it? Danny might be in more trouble than she'd thought. Every second that she wasted sitting here watching them play around was another second that Danny was creeping blindly closer and closer to his death.

What could she do? Just because she knew who he was now it didn't make the question any easier to answer. She couldn't catch him...it, whatever. She'd seen the footage of what had happened when Danny tried that. None of the Fenton Thermoses they had would be strong enough. While she was sure she could make one, it would take to much time, and that was one thing that she just didn't have anymore.

She couldn't go at this with brute force. She was bound to lose in that aspect. Highly trained she might have been, but she never went blindly into a fight. She had no idea just what kind of punch the ghost could pack and there was no way she was going to find out the hard way. No. She had to be smarter than that.

What if she could turn it against Danny? If she could make it feel as betrayed and hurt as she had felt. If she could get it to lash out and break the trust that it and Danny had built up? What better way could this all work? Danny wouldn't even suspect her of it at all.

Now all she needed to do was think of how.

Well, the one good thing about Phantom parading around as if he was a student meant that he must have been on some type of social media, and she knew all of Danny's passwords. If she could set up some sort of fake conversation, maybe even make something up between her and Danny, than make sure that Phantom saw it. It would no doubt turn on the boy in a fit of rage and lash out. She could than delete everything as if it had never been there and Danny would see just how unpredictable and dangerous this thing was.

No. That was a stupid idea and bound to fail. There was no way that she could go after this thing herself...but she wasn't sure just how much she trusted anyone else right now either. But maybe she didn't have too.

What if she didn't put her trust in someone else, but something else? She didn't have to trust any of the other people that she worked with. She didn't have to trust any of Danny's family.

She had Walker.

Walker was bound to hate the idea of someone helping the ghosts that had escaped from his jail. There was sure to be some sort of consequence for that. All she would have to do is tell him what was going on and than make sure to corner Phantom when he was alone. Strong he might have been but there were very few ghosts that were stronger than Walker, and the ghost had all kinds of containment equipment that could put Phantom out of commission and render his abilities useless.

This idea, this she could work with.

A wicked smile twisted her lips as her gaze narrowed sharply at the male sitting on the other side of the gym.

She would get Danny back on their side. No matter what the cost.

(***)

"Valerie, Paulina."

Valerie lowered her water bottle and took a glance over her shoulder at the call of her name. Upon seeing Fenton walking towards her she arched a brow and turned to stand next to Paulina, facing the other.

"I was hoping to talk to you two." Fenton said once he'd gotten close enough that he didn't need to shout. "I wanted to thank you. Nights said the whole 'meet up in the photocopier room' was your idea."

"Well he was like, totally miserable without being able to hangout with you." Paulina said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. "We had to do something."

"Ya." Valerie added, wiping the sweat from her brow before taking another sip of water. "Besides, I guess you're not...that bad of a guy."

The smile that she got in turn made her equally want to hit him and herself. Really they hadn't been fair to this guy the moment that he stepped into their base. In all honesty they had been putting him through hell and Fenton had just taken it. He'd allowed them to push him around because he knew how much it would mean to Danny, and the fact only made her feel worse.

Fenton had never been a bad guy. Sure he had hunted ghost and done some pretty horrifying research but at school he never bothered anyone and kept mostly to himself along with his two closes friends. The more she thought about it the worse she felt. One of the few people that Fenton could trust had been Tucker, and he'd been working for GRR the whole time as an undercover spy. She couldn't even begin to imagine how she would have felt if she had been in his shoes when he found out. And yet, much to all of their surprise, Fenton had taken it really well. She could tell that he'd been hurt, that he'd felt betrayed, but he didn't take it out on Tucker and even seemed to grow closer to him after finding out.

He'd also left his home. A place that he'd grown up in full of people who had loved him just so that he could be on Danny's side. So he could stay by Danny's side.

Fenton had done nothing but prove over and over again that he would never do anything to hurt Danny and had left everything he'd ever known with no idea on what he was going to do or where he was going to go and they had all given him hell for it.

The smile over his face now was so fragile. It was so hopeful and soft. She couldn't destroy that hope he had, that idea that maybe he was finally starting to fit in with them. They had put him through enough, he'd been through enough, maybe it was time they cut him some slack.

"You want to spar with us?" She asked, her out of the blue question seeming to catch both of them off guard.

"Uh..."

"Oh come on!" Paulina grinned, catching on to what Val was really getting at and grabbing his arm to pull him towards the mats where they had been practising just moments ago.

"Alright but I'm warning you, I'm a ninth degree black belt."

A smirk worked its way over Valerie's lips as she placed down her water bottle and made her way back onto the mat.

"So am I."

(***)

Sam still couldn't believe that she was doing this. While everybody else in the Fenton house hold laid sleeping in their beds, she was standing outside the ghost portal, a note in her hand and the Fenton Boomerang in the other. Taking in a deep breath she quickly tied the note to the object and brought it up to her lips.

"Find Walker."

She said her words clearly, making sure that they couldn't be mistaken for anything else before she threw it with all of her might into the swirling green vortex of the ghost zone.

Now all she had to do is wait.

God she hated waiting.


	40. Chapter 40

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 40

"Hey Dad check this out!"

Jack took a glance over his shoulder to see just what it was his son wanted to call his attention to. He watched as Danny lit his palm up with ecto energy and than poured his cup of water into it. Surprisingly however the water didn't spill over. Instead the green mist of energy spread, making a shield like wall that trapped the water inside until there was a solid sphere sitting in the palm of Danny's hand. Danny's tongue was sticking out from between his lips as his green orbs narrowed in concentration. After a few seconds more he tilted his hand and carefully made an opening in the sphere for the water to drain out and refill the cup.

"Ugh, that took a lot more control than I thought it would." He muttered, a frown sitting across his lips as he stared at the glass.

"You'll get use to it, don't worry." Fenton said as he reached out and gently placed his hand over top of Danny's.

Jack could feel his own smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he turned back to the frying pan and carefully tipped the eggs out and onto the plate he had sitting by the stove. Making sure that the stove top was off he scooped up the plate and turned to face his boys, sliding the plate over to Fenton before turning to Danny.

"Thanks Jack."

"It's no problem at all Hunter." Jack said before he took his own seat. "How did you learn to do that?"

Danny lit up at the question as he swung his free hand out to make wild gestures while he started his story.

"Well I've gotten really good at making shields and when I was practising them at GRR Tucker thought that it might be kind of cool to create force fields too, so he and Hunter have been coming up with new exercises to control it and make them bigger. So far that's about the biggest size I've managed though so I guess it's not to impressive..."

"Nonsense." Fenton scolded as he lightly tapped Danny's hand. "We're looking for progress, not perfection. The size is something that we'll work up to."

When Danny gave a soft smile at the others words Jack couldn't help but give a small smile of his own. Fenton really was a good kid. Maddie had done a wonderful job raising him. He was so sweet and respectful to his son, Jack couldn't have asked for Danny to fall in love with anyone else. He almost felt bad for how suspicious he'd been of the poor kid at first, but in the same breath the guy had been raised by one of the best ghost hunters he'd ever known. It made sense for him to be worried.

Watching him now however, watching as he spoke to Danny, the soft look in his eye and the careful way in which he gently stoked over Danny's hand with his thumb, the way that he listened when his son spoke...there had never really been a reason for him to be worried. The second that Fenton had laid down his mask, had walked out of his old way of life, proved that he would never do a thing to hurt his son.

Still, Jack was a parent, and Danny had been stolen away from him for years. If anyone had earned the right to be overly paranoid and protective it would have to be him.

"I think it's great that you're still expanding your knowledge on your abilities." Jack said, only speaking after he was sure that Fenton was done. "And it's very nice of you to help him Hunter."

Hunter just grinned at him before he ducked his head to eat his food. Jack had to admit, he was starting to develop a bit of a soft spot for the boy, and he could tell that Danny was starting to realize this too. He was just going to have to make sure that his son knew that just because he liked the boy did not mean that he would approve of any frick fracking under his roof.

"Oh shit!"

"Danny."

"Sorry Dad." Danny said sheepishly before he turned to a startled Hunter. "We have to go! Remember we promised Dash that we would meet up with him and Kwan this morning for a run!"

Jack just sat back and watched as Fenton's eyes grew comically wide before he quickly scarfed down the last of his food hazardously. Jack was mildly impressed that he didn't choke.

"I completely forgot." He said as he jumped to his feet and quickly scooped up both his and Danny's plates. "Thanks for breakfast Jack. We'll clean up the dishes when we get back."

"Don't you mean you will?" Danny smirked as he quickly floated out the kitchen doorway with Fenton close behind him.

"You're not sticking me with all the dishes again Nights. You're helping or so help me I'll put on the spector deflector again."

"No! Killjoy!"

"Goodbye boys."

"Bye Dad!"

"See you later Jack!"

Jack couldn't help but snicker softly to himself as they continued their playful bickering until the door closed behind them and cut out the rest. They really were adorable, they reminded him so much of him and Maddie when they had been younger.

At the thought of his long lost love Jack could feel a weight in his chest and the corners of his mouth pulling down with the sudden drop. He'd never stopped loving Maddie, and it hurt more than he cared to admit having her so close and yet never being able to talk to her or see her.

He knew that he had hurt her when he had taken off with Lydia, he knew that she would never forgive him. But she hadn't been there when Jack had seen that ghosts could be different. She hadn't watched the softness and caring nature that they could have, and when he had tried to tell her, she wouldn't listen.

He could still remember it. Could still see it clear as day. When Jazz had let Lydia out off the containment device that they had her locked in. When instead of taking out her pain and rage on the child of the two that had tormented her, Lydia had instead brought the countless tattoos across her skin to life in order to entertain their daughter, in order to make a little girl smile and laugh. Jack had watched from around the corner as she carefully played with his two year old daughter, as she had gently scooped the girl up in her arms and cooed and cuddled with her.

It was than that he knew what they were doing was wrong. It was the day when he finally started seeing ghost for what they really were, human. It was the day that he knew he could no longer be a part of what him and Maddie had become.

Any time that he had tried to talk to her about it, any time that he had tried to tell her what he had discovered, she would shut him out. He hadn't been able to just stand by any longer and he'd made his choice on the day that he had released Lydia and all of the other ghosts that they had been holding. Maddie hadn't wanted to listen to his reasoning and with no other choice he'd found himself having to leave her behind.

He'd been hoping that after all of these years maybe she would have changed. From the way that Fenton also left after he decided he couldn't be a part of it any longer Jack supposed his hopes were just dreams.

With a heavy sigh he lifted himself up from his chair. He supposed if Danny and Hunter were busy than there wasn't any reason that he couldn't just head to work early. The house felt empty and hollow when the boy's weren't in it. He didn't even want to think of how lonely he was going to be when they both went off to school next year.

Grabbing his bag that he had set beside the doorway earlier, he headed towards the front door and slipped on his shoes. As he opened the door he came to a grinding halt at what was on the other side of it.

Maddie looked just as shocked as he was, her hand still hovering in the air in the stop motion of opening up the door. For a long moment they did nothing but stare at one another, Jack unsure of her intentions and trying to break it down by the look on her face and Maddie no doubt rethinking everything that she wanted to say to make sure that it came out just right.

Still, seeing as she was a hunter and that his son had just left the house Jack couldn't help but give a quick check over to see if she had any sort of containment devices or any other type of hidden weapons. When his brief search came up clean he eyed her warily and waited for her to say her piece.

"Jack I...may I come in?"

It was a bad idea. She was a hunter after all and he knew just what she thought of his son, but Jack had never really been able to deny her much of anything. Shifting back he opened the door and allowed her to walk in. Even if he wasn't entirely comfortable with having her here, he'd much rather hold whatever type of conversation they were going to be having inside his home rather than out in the hallway.

"Thank you."

Her words were quiet, almost shy as she dropped her gaze and stepped into his apartment. Jack had never seen her this way before. She'd always been such a strong woman, walking with her head held high and her shoulders back. This version of her was such a contrast to the last time he'd seen her that it left him with a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He certainly hoped that this wasn't some sort of trick. That this wasn't some type of act to get him to lower his guard.

Even so however he lead her into his home, back to the living room and scooping up a few of the books that Fenton had left on the couch along with some of the game cases Danny had thrown there. Placing the items on the coffee table Jack made a motion to the couch with his hand.

"Please have a seat. Would you like anything to drink? Tea? Water? Coffee?"

"No thank you."

Really he'd been hoping to take some time to gather his thoughts while he collected the drinks but he supposed that she had spent the whole way here thinking about what she wanted to say and didn't want to postpone it any longer than she had to. Taking his seat on the opposite side of the couch he waited for her to start.

Her attention wasn't on him. Instead of saying her piece she appeared to be in a trance as she stared at the books that Jack had just placed on the table. No doubt she knew that they belonged to her son, and he was sure it was a little surreal for her to see them sitting so comfortably next to something that belonged to Danny.

Jack couldn't help but wonder just how worried she'd been for her own son's safety, how many sleepless nights she'd stayed awake hoping that he was okay and that he was well looked after. When Jack had Fenton's phone, when he'd told Kwan to monitor Fenton's new one he'd seen some of the messages that she sent once in a blue moon. Asking if he was alright and how he was doing. Checking in to make sure that he was eating and doing his homework. She never apologized, or ever asked for him to come home, and Fenton never responded.

"I saw Danny leaving with your son just a few minutes ago." She said, her words oddly calm as her gaze never once lifted from the book. "They seemed to be in a hurry."

"They have plans to go running with some friends from school this morning from what I heard at breakfast." Jack said his curiosity building at the fact that Maddie had called Danny his son rather than abomination or 'it'.

"From what you heard at breakfast." A broken smile pulled at her lips as she repeated the words. "I've never seen Danny smile like that before. I almost didn't recognize him."

Jack didn't know what to say. Ever since Fenton had come to live with him there wasn't very many times when he hadn't seemed happy or content. Sure while he didn't get along with the GRR group at first he'd always seemed more than glad to be in the presence of his son. Countless times he'd walked in on them with their foreheads pressed together snickering away at this or that. On more than one occasion he'd come home from working all day to see Fenton sleeping on the couch with Danny passed out over top of him, some plates on the coffee table, a corny cartoon on tv and a soft smile on both of their sleeping faces.

It was almost heartbreaking to think that he'd seen a side a Fenton in only a few months that Maddie had never seen in years. He didn't doubt that Fenton loved his mother, but he could understand the tension they must have been under constantly from the work that they did. If there was one thing that Maddie didn't do all that well it was taking a break and relaxing. Allowing herself to unwind had never come close to the top of her priority list. She obsessed over everything that she did. It would take over her days, nights, weeks, months, and years. Surely her same kind of aggressive nature must have rubbed off on her son.

Around Danny though, or even Jack himself or the other kids, Fenton could finally take a little bit of a breather. He could finally slow down and actually enjoy being a little bit more normal. He could go out and meet up with the others or even just spend a night in with his only worry being the homework for class. Sure Jack still worked his kids to the bone, but he never forgot that they were just kids, and that they needed a rest every once and awhile. He couldn't expect them to be go, go, go all of the time.

To Maddie however all she had was herself and Fenton. The idea of taking a break had probably never crossed her mind.

"Jack I came to apologize."

Her words broke him out of his thoughts. The brightness of the bright orbs that finally turned to look up at him kept him in place.

"I know what happened to your son. I know what happened to him and...Lydia."

Hearing that name after so many years still hurt. He could still feel the place in his chest where her absence left a raw, gaping wound. Hearing that name from Maddie of all people left his ears burning and his insides cringing.

He wasn't sure if he wanted her to continue. He wasn't sure if he could handle knowing that she had any part in it.

"After you told me about Vlad I...I broke into his files."

Well, he hadn't expected her to say that. Really he wasn't sure what he was thinking that she would say but he would never have guessed that she would have broken into Vlad's flies. He had been one of their closest friends. He'd been with them ever since college and had been one of the few to believe in their ghostly ventures before they became world known.

Jack still wasn't sure on how he'd been so easily fooled by a monster.

"I found the ones that he had on your son, on Lydia." Her last few words hitched, her hand coming up to press against her lips, her gaze going glassy as they wavered with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry."

Jack didn't know what to do, but his body moved on its own, bringing him to her side and wrapping her small frame up in his arms.

"I, I can't believe that I was ever, that I ever...they, she cried out for him so many times and I just, if that had been Danny, if that had been my boy..."

She couldn't finish, her words only getting more jumbled and hysterical as she tried to continue. Without thinking about it Jack found himself trying to sooth her. Muttering to her calmly as he gently rocked her back and forth. There was nothing else that he could do.

Jack himself had never found out what had happened to Danny in all those years that he went missing. He'd never managed to get the boy to open up about what he had gone through, and he'd never wanted to press the issue. He'd tried once, and Danny had disappeared for three days. While there was a part of him that would always be curious, there was an even bigger part that he was ashamed to admit was a little relived over what he didn't know. He knew Vlad, and he knew the way the man worked. That was all he needed.

"I tried to kill your boy Jack."

The whole world came to a halt. Jack froze in mid motion, his eyes going wide as his blood ran cold while the words soaked in as if they had been made out of liquid fire. Slowly he released her from his hold, pulling away so that he could stare down at her tear stained face.

"I-I didn't know he was your son." She pushed out quickly, seeing from the look on his face that she didn't have long to explain herself. "He'd been showing up as this hooded figure and constantly letting our ghosts free or helping them get away. When Danny started to spend more time with him, when I started losing him, I blamed your son and I went after him. I-I stabbed him with an ecto laced knife and I chased him into a warehouse down by the docks. He said that he wouldn't hate me, that he understood what a mother would do to protect their child. I never thought..."

"Stop."

Jack didn't want to hear anymore. He didn't want to know just how many times his son had come close to death just because he hadn't been keeping a better eye on him. He didn't want to hear about how the love of his life had made an attempt to take away one of the few people in this world that he truly cared for. It was taring him in two. He didn't want to lose Maddie, but he couldn't stand the thought of her hating and trying to kill his son.

"Jack I'm sorry. If I had known then what I know now..."

"Would it have changed if Danny had been completely ghost?"

She fell silent. They stared at one another in the long stretch that followed, his gaze unwavering as he stared down at her. He didn't want to be mean, he hated being cruel, but he had to protect his son.

"Those ghosts were someones loved ones once. Your son's taught me that."

His brows drew together as he placed his hands on his knees and turned away from her.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say Maddie. I'm not even sure why you're here."

From the corner of his eye he watched as she lifted her hand and slowly brought it close to him. Before she could grab a hold of his hand however she seemed to think better of it and carefully moved it back to her side.

"I wanted to apologize for not listening to you when you first tried to tell me. I'm sorry for turning away from you when you decided that you wanted to change. I have been doing nothing but looking back through every single file of every ghost I've ever caught and I'm horrified by what I've done." She said, her voice a mere whisper as he gave a slight turn of his head to stare at her. "I want to make up for what I've done, and you're the only one I know that can help me."

Jack turned to face her head on once more. With a skeptical eye he searched her face, trying to find one trace of deceit or sabotage. The look across her features gave away nothing but her honest confession, her want to change. He couldn't say no to that. He couldn't turn her away when she was finally ready.

But he also couldn't put his son in harms way either...

"Maddie...I love you, and I want to help," He admitted softly, "but whether or not I should be the one to do so I'm going to leave up to my son. If he trusts you, than so will I."

Although that didn't appear to be the answer that she had been hoping for, Maddie gave an understanding nod all the same.

"Of course." She said, bringing her hand up to her eyes to wipe away the tears that were still sliding down her cheeks. "I understand."

When she went to stand up Jack quickly stood up alongside her, reaching out and gently grabbing a hold of one of her hands.

"Wait."

She allowed herself to be stopped, shifting herself so that she could face him again.

"I...would you like that cup of tea now?"

He didn't know if they could ever get back what they had, or if they could ever be together again, but he couldn't see the harm in allowing them to catch up with each other. He couldn't see the harm in her staying just a little bit longer.

A warm smile that he had seen many times grace over Fenton's face whenever he was with Danny softly made its way over hers. She gave one last wipe to her ears and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before giving a small nod of her head.

"That sounds wonderful."


	41. Chapter 41

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 41

Danny couldn't help but snicker along with Dash's joke, even though it was at the expense of Nights. Seriously though, the boy really should have known better than to try and pull a prank on one of the biggest pranksters in school. Nights was only getting what he asked for.

His boyfriend on the other hand didn't appreciate Danny's traitorous side and evilly glared at him through sopping wet bangs.

"I wouldn't laugh if I was you. You're next."

Giving a smirk to the white haired teen Danny threw an arm around his waist and tugged him in. Ignoring the fact that he was getting soaked by the one in his arms he quickly swooped down and stole a kiss from the other before he could utter more threats.

"Bring it on Phantom." His smirk widened as he pulled back, admiring the flush that fell over Nights' face before he managed to shake it off.

"Oh trust me, this isn't a fight you're going to win." Phantom said, a smirk slowly twisting at his lips as a mischievous glint in his eye made Danny's stomach flip.

"Ugh. Okay guys we get it. You're totally in love with each other." Dash groaned, his voice reminding them that there were others around. "Could you knock off the PDA for like, two minutes? Some of us here are still single you know?"

"Aw Dash."

Phantom snickered as he slipped out of Danny's hold and flipped himself up in the air, landing with cat like grace on the jocks shoulders. When Dash wasn't crushed by his weight or even thrown off balance in the slightest Danny didn't even have to guess that Nights was no doubt still floating.

"I'm sure I could find you some cute girl to date. Shouldn't be to hard, a big handsome guy like you."

"I don't know Nights, girls these days go for more brains than bronze." Kwan said, poking at his friends shoulder and earning himself a glare from the blond.

"Don't you team up against me too."

Danny couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the three of them playfully bicker together. After he'd been accepted by the girls, the guys had taken him in with no problems. The only one that he was missing was Tucker, but his best friend had assured him when they had made the plans originally that he could think of a hundred better things to do than wake up before school and go for a run. While Danny had agreed with him there was no way that he was going to miss out on any bonding he could possibly get. He was so far behind with these guys that he might as well have just admitted defeat. They were starting to like him though, and he wasn't going to allow himself to trip at the finish line.

"You know I've gotta admit, I never did take you as a gay guy Fenton."

Dash's statement pulled him out of his thoughts as he blinked himself back into what the group had been talking about. He was a little shocked to see that Phantom was now doing a handstand on Kwan's shoulders, but he'd seen the boy do stranger things before and quickly wrote it off.

"I'm sorry what?" Danny muttered, feeling as if he might have missed quite a bit.

With a shrug of his shoulders Dash started up again. "I just mean that, I always saw you at school with that goth chick, and Tucker had mentioned that she had a pretty big crush on you. Just figured that something would have happened by now you know?"

"Uh..."

"Well she didn't make her move."

Danny was a little shocked when Nights chirped in, his voice sharp and clipped as he flipped off of Kwan and landed next to the darker haired male.

"You snooze you lose."

The words were all but growled as Nights wrapped his arms tightly around Danny's waist, his arms feeling like flexible steel pipes around his midsection.

Well wasn't this interesting? He'd never seen Nights get this possessive before, but than he supposed that the ghostly teen never really had a reason to. Danny himself had mentioned countless times that he wasn't interested in Sam, not in that way anyways. Maybe it was hearing someone else talking about it that was putting Nights on edge.

Hoping to calm his boyfriend down Danny ruffled the boy's hair softly. He could already feel his hold loosening at the small action and couldn't help the small smile that pulled at his own lips when Nights turned his head to pout up at him.

"Seriously guys. Two minutes." Dash muttered while Kwan brought a hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter.

"We should get ready to head to school anyways guys." Kwan suggested while he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I wanna take a quick shower at the gym before class."

"Good idea." Danny agreed. "Although I think I'm just going to wash my face, my hair takes forever to dry."

"Well that explains why my pillow's always wet." Nights muttered under his breath, his words thankfully going unnoticed by the other two as Danny felt a bright flush burn across his cheeks.

Moving his arm down so he could wrap his hand around Phantom's, Danny walked behind the jocks towards their school building.

He really wasn't looking forward to the school day. It's not that he didn't enjoy the classes or anything but he really hated how he couldn't talk to any of the other members of GRR and having to pretend that he wasn't interested in talking to Nights was a nightmare. With Sam not talking to him and Tucker spending most of his time with her Danny found himself extremely lonely for most of it. But he supposed that it was only eight hours and with no further distractions he could finally pay full attention to his school work. Still, he would have to say that he preferred hanging out with his friends more than being on the honour roll.

Taking a glance at the one at his side he couldn't help the grin that tugged at the corner of his lips at the giddy little smile across Nights' face as he stared down at their intertwined hands. Danny always found it endearing just how easy it was to make Nights happy. All he had to do was the smallest thing and the guy pretty much turned to putty in his hands. Although as adorable as he found it he also couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken in the same breath. These little gesture shouldn't have been able to make Nights so happy. He should have been use to them. Danny should've had to work harder to create such a positive response. This kid needed way more affection.

"I feel like I've pretty much already taken a shower." Phantom mumbled suddenly, pulling at a piece of wet hair with his free hand. "Think I'm just gonna head home and change. You okay with that?"

For a second Danny had no idea that Nights was talking to him. He clicked in after a moment of pause however as he quickly snapped his head over to stare at the bright green eyes that were watching him.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked.

Nights gave a shrug of his shoulders as he pulled them to a stop. "It's just...I know that you're not allowed to hangout with us at school or anything just in case Sam figures it out, but you always seem really lonely and I don't want you to be alone for longer than you need to be. I know how that feels and it sucks."

Smiling at the sweetness of his boyfriend Danny tugged him a little closer.

"Thanks Nights, but it's okay."

In return for his words he was given a soft smile, however it quickly morphed into a wicked smirk as Nights leaned in until his lips were pressed close to his ear.

"To bad you didn't want to take a shower though cause I wouldn't have minded standing around all day in soaking wet clothes for that sight."

A bright blush lit up Danny's face and the words left him speechless as Nights pulled back with a cackle. He was still in to much shock to move when Nights swooped in and quickly stole a kiss before he took off back home.

The shock slowly faded from his face as he stared after the ghost, a smirk of his own coming to his lips along with a roll of his eyes. God his boyfriend was such a minx. When he finally turned back to continue following the others he was shocked to see that they had stopped and waited for him. And also had seen everything that just happened.

"You guys are really bad at this two minute rule." Dash said, as Danny gave a halfhearted sheepish look.

"Aw leave them alone Dash." Kwan put in. "I think it's adorable."

Danny gave a small grunt when the bigger Asian male dropped a heavy arm around his shoulders but he didn't bother shrugging him off. Kwan had always been the most accepting of Danny ever since he joined the GRR group and he'd really gotten use to how touchy feely he was after the first two weeks. Sometimes though Danny wondered if the guy didn't realize his own strength.

"I mean have you ever seen a cuter couple?" Kwan continued as Dash gave a roll of his eyes.

"Of course I have. I watch the romance channel you know. There's lots of cute couples to chose from."

Although Danny found the information shocking he didn't comment on it. He highly doubted that anyone at school knew that about Dash and he didn't want to have the guy drawing back because Danny poked fun at him. They weren't that close yet.

As they continued on with their conversation Danny caught a sight of something dark round the corner of the school. Pretty much knowing just what it was he ducked under Kwan's arm and started a light jog in that direction.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a bit!" He called over his shoulder, wasting no time in catching up with the one who had disappeared.

As he rounded the corner himself he was both relieved to see that he'd been right and slightly horrified. What if Sam had seen him with the group? What if she had seen him with Phantom? What if she had seen Phantom fly away? The only thing that gave him any sort of comfort was the fact that Sam was reading. Her noes stuck in some big dusty book that she picked up at some shady bookstore and thankfully, she didn't pay attention to much when she had a book in her hands. Still, Danny ran up to behind her anyways. Even if she hadn't seen him with the others they were both overdue for a talk.

No matter about all the stuff that had happened lately they had still been best friends for years.

"Sam!"

She didn't seem to hear him, so she must have been more invested in the book than he thought. That or she was just trying to flat out ignore him.

"Sam wait up!"

Finally catching up to her he placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped at the action, swinging around with her hand to hit him which he just barely managed to duck under. Once she saw who it was though a dark look came over her face and her whole body went rigid.

"What do you want Fenton?"

The tone of her voice was enough to give him goosebumps, but he didn't let that deter him any as he straightened back up to his full height.

"I just want to talk. Can't we do that?"

Her gaze narrowed as she took in his words. Ever so slowly she closed her book and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Just what is there to say?" She muttered. "You made everything pretty clear that night. You're sticking with your ghost friend and abandoning everyone else who was close to you."

Although that hurt to hear he supposed that it made sense for her to see it that way. In her mind that's just what he did.

"Sam I tried to convince you to see it my way and you wouldn't. You left me with no choice."

"Seriously Danny? The most cliche line in the book?"

"Well what else do you want from me? I'm not apologizing, I'm not the one in the wrong here. I just want us to be friends again. We don't have to talk about our jobs or ghosts. We can just hangout like we use to. You, me and Tucker."

"You don't get it do you?" Suddenly the anger faded from her face, her shoulders slumping forward as her gaze dropped to the ground. "I want things to go back to the way that they were Danny, but you've strayed so far. In order for us all to be together again we need to get you back, but the real you. Not...whatever this is."

Danny gave a shake of his head as she gestured at him. There was no way that he was going to be able to change her mind about this and that just killed him. Sam had been his best friend for years, why couldn't she see that he was right? Why couldn't she open her mind to it? He knew what happened to her grandparents, that's how they had met after all, but Phantom wasn't her grandfather, none of the ghosts were. So why couldn't she stop treating them like they were all the same?

"I'm sorry but this is the only me that you're going to get now."

He didn't want their conversation to go like this. He'd been hoping that he would have been able to talk some sense into her and that maybe they could restart on shaky grounds. In all honesty he missed hanging out with his best friends together. But if this was the way that things had to be now than so be it.

" You know,I don't blame you Danny." Sam said with a long sigh. "It's this...ghost. Its got you wrapped around its fingers and you're not thinking properly."

"Sam no, it's..."

"Don't worry." Her hand on his arm was so sudden and out of the blue that he jumped, his gaze shooting up to lock with her's as she said her next words. "I swear I'm going to fix this."

"Fix this? What? Sam I..."

"Don't worry about it Danny." She interrupted as she moved her hand from his shoulder to pat at his cheek.

Don't worry? Well what else could he do? She was going to fix it? Fix what? Fix it how? If she thought Nights was the problem than just what was she going to do? He knew just how ruthless she could be when she started to take something personal, and what could have possibly been more personal than this situation? Just what did she have in store for Nights? Just what was Danny going to have to do to protect him?

When she dropped her hand and turned her back on him he knew that the conversation was over, still he couldn't stop himself from calling out once more.

"Sam, please don't do anything stupid."

As she came to a slow stop and took a glance over her shoulder he could feel his stomach dropping to his feet at the look that was set over her face.

"Something tells me that you should have taken that advice months ago."

Biting down on his tongue he could do nothing but watch her walk away. He had no idea just what was going on inside her head, or just what she had planned, but there was no way it was going to be any good.

(***)

Danny was pretty much on cloud nine as he was flying home. His head couldn't have been in a better place right now and for once in his life everything felt like it was going to be okay. He had a good group of friends that he didn't have to hide who or what he really was around, him and his father were finally working together, and he had the best boyfriend in the world.

Other than the fact that Vlad was lucking somewhere around town, no doubt at Fenton's old house, there really wasn't anything that could kill his mood.

Or at least he thought so, but all those thoughts were forgotten the moment he felt a net that seemingly came from nowhere drop on him.

A yelp was pulled from his lips when he was suddenly yank in the opposite direction. It took him a moment to get his barrings but after he figured out just which way was up he started putting some things together. He was dangling upside down, stuck inside a net that was hanging from some type of hover board, glider, thing.

That in itself was strange. He'd seen gliders before at GRR, Valerie used one after all whenever she went out, but he'd never seen one that looked like this. It was higher tech, and a more slicker kind of model with sharp silvers and dark blues. Although he couldn't make out much of what it really looked like from the underside he had no doubt that whoever this was had way better funding than his father. The worst part was that he couldn't even make out just who was riding the thing and that was making his stomach turn.

While there weren't a lot of hunters in the area, the three that he knew of that had a grudge against him weren't to be taken lightly. From what he could make out from the silhouette alone however made his blood run cold. The person was obviously not female, which left out both Sam and Maddie, and there was no way that this was some type of test of his father's.

Which only left one person.

His thoughts were cut short as the net was released, dropping him for a sudden met up with a concrete roof in some part of town he didn't recognize. While the pain jarred his thoughts for a moment he didn't have any time to waste before he was struggling to get out of the netting. Sadly Vlad had always been well equip in the ghost containing merchandise and nothing he tried would work. His mind was screaming at him to do something, anything, but his thoughts had become a jumbled mess and his hands were shaking and his heart was beating so fast he was surprised that it didn't just give out.

"No no no no no. Shit! Shit! Come on!"

His vision was starting to become blurry as he tried to force any type of energy into his hands. He bit down on his lip to keep it from trembling as he tried again and again, his whole body breaking out into goosebumps at the scraping sound of the hover board landing on the roof.

He was running out of time and he knew it and the realization only made his panic so much worse. Finally giving up on being able to break out with any type of ecto energy Danny started thrashing in his confinements, his body jerking in any way that he hoped would put enough stress on the ropes to break them. The more he struggled however the more he was starting to realize that there was no way he was getting anywhere.

This was going to be it. Nothing that he had done had mattered. His Dad was never going to know what happened to him. Fenton was never going to find him.

This was going to be the end for him.

"Oh stop your bellyaching. You're not going to break out of that thing, it absorbs your energy."

Danny snarled when he felt a hand on the back of his neck yanking him to sit upright, before he could truly fight against it however he hissed as a sharp point jabbed into the side of his neck. When he tried to grab it Vlad pulled it away as a strange but familiar fog slowly wrapped around Danny's brain.

"There you go. Just like old times hm?"

He could barely feel the pat on his cheek as the man let him go, his heart rate slowly coming back to normal but his thoughts screaming at him to keep fighting. Soon enough however even those thoughts were quieted, his mind filling with cobwebs and his whole body going lax.

"I must say 44, you've made my research very hard to do."

The voice sounded far off, more so than before and he could just make out the sounds of metal scrapping against metal, making his ears throb dully.

"But I suppose that this is better anyways. After all there would be no way that I could get her out on my own, and Walker won't let you anywhere near her if he knows that I'm involved."

As he continued to speak his voice grew louder. Danny tried to move, to do anything to get away as the man slowly drew closer again, but it was as if his limbs weren't his own anymore. He hadn't been under the influence of this drug in so long, his body no longer held the tolerance that it use to and the memories that the situation was bringing back left his insides feeling cold. Even his tongue left to heavy to curse Vlad out when the net was removed and he could finally see the man's face clearly for the first time in years.

"Ah, there you are. Hello."

A weak hiss was the only thing he could push out, flinching at the hand that touched his face as Vlad hoisted him upwards until he was sitting up.

"You know if I knew that you were going to be good than I wouldn't have to drug you." Vlad sighed, as if this whole thing was Danny's fault. "But you'll be a good boy now right? I just need you to listen, or else this won't work."

"Screw...you..." It was a battle to fight to get even those words out, but he somehow managed, even if the only effect that they had was pulling a wicked chuckle from the monster he was stuck with.

"Oh don't be so petty." Vlad scolded as Danny watched him grab a hold of some type of deep red coloured staff from beside him. "There's no reason to be angry, you're not going to remember any of this anyways."

Danny couldn't help but squint as a glowing orb was suddenly shoved in front of his eyes. The red glow burned to look at, but he found that he couldn't turn away as it swirled like some type of hellish vortex. In the back of his mind he could hear Vlad muttering something, but his head felt heavier and fuzzier than it had before and the words sounded garbled the more he tried to focus on them. Although he tried to fight to stay awake he could feel his mind slipping and than his world went black.


	42. Chapter 42

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 42

Danny was worried about Nights.

When he'd missed first period and second Danny figured that he might have just been taking his time in grabbing his clothes, or ended up talk to his father, or maybe even ran into some ghost friends of his and lost track of time. When he'd shown up halfway through Lancer's class however, still damp from Dash's shove into the water fountain at the park, he couldn't help but wonder what had happened.

Staring at the back of Nights' head now he tried think of any way that he could get the others attention to ask him some questions without alerting anyone to what he was doing. If he started passing him a note than Sam was bound to notice and with the war path that she was on right now leading her to Phantom's true identity was not something that he wanted to do. He thought about shooting him a text as well, but while there was a lot that slipped by Lancer, cellphone usage in his classroom was one thing that he always caught the second that it slipped out of someones backpack or desk.

He supposed that he could wait till class was over, quickly pull out his phone than and message him but he didn't want to have to wait that long. There was something really off about the boy. When Nights had walked in earlier his eyes had been glassy and unfocused, his face paler than normal and every move he made appeared to be an effort. Danny didn't want to find out what happened to him later, he wanted to make sure that he was okay now.

But it was class and they were stuck in their seats and there was no way that he would be able to do anything without getting them both in trouble.

Scowling to himself he tried to keep his eyes off of the back of the ghost's head. He'd worked so hard on pretending that he didn't give a care about Phantom he couldn't start messing that up now. But god was it ever frustrating.

Had he gotten sick from being in wet clothes? Why hadn't he just changed like he said he was going to? What had happened once he took off? Damnit! Danny should have gone with him!

"Alright class," Lancer said as he finished his lesson, placing down the chalk as he turned to face his students, "the bell will go off in five minutes. I suggest that you use until than to study. Exam's are coming up after the winter break so no slacking off now."

Everyone burst into chatter after that, moving over to their friends desk and talking about their plans for the winter break. Danny didn't move. He fought with everything that he had not to just bounce from his seat and bring himself to Phantom's side. He couldn't blow it now. He couldn't put Nights' life in danger like that, but...

Thankfully Val stepped in, wasting no time in pulling her chair up to Phantom's side and chatting with him.

Danny tried not to watch, he tried not to strain his ears so that he could pick up the conversation as he pretended to flip through his English book, but ever second that ticked by made that harder and harder to do. When he heard Nights groan his head snapped up, a feeling of panic wrapping like a vice around his heart as he went to jump up.

"Danny!" Tucker suddenly appeared in his line of sight, blocking his view of the two as he placed his hands on Danny's desk. "Ugh man you're not going to believe this." Tucker said, giving a roll of his eyes as he pulled out his PDA. "I was trying to watch a movie last night and than my Mom came in and decided to watch it with me which was fine, but than my Dad came in and when my Mom screamed at one of the scenes he ran right to her and started cuddling her and cooing. I mean seriously, at least wait until you get a room am I right? The movie wasn't even that scary, I mean check out the reviews."

His confusion only mounted as Tucker shoved him PDA into his hands. Really the last thing that he wanted to do right now was to be listening to Tucker's daily drama about his parents when Nights' needed his help but as he took a quick look down at the screen he was shocked to see a writing program opened and not some type of internet tab.

Dude you have to stop freaking out. I'm sure Nights is fine. Val's going to take him home after this period is over but you can't blow our cover. You pretty much burned a hole in the back of his head you know. The last thing we want is for Sam to find out who he is. I know you're worried but we've got this.

As he passed the device back to his friend he thought back on the story that Tucker had just told him. It probably hadn't even happened. He was probably just trying to warn Danny that he was going to have to wait until he and Phantom were home before he could show any worry.

He couldn't even find the words to describe how much he hated this.

"See? What did I tell you? Not scare at all am I right?"

Danny forced a smile to his lips as he gave a nod of his head, fighting with himself not to march after Val and Phantom as they headed outside of the class the second the bell went off. Maybe he would just skip the rest of the day, wait ten minutes, and than follow after them.

A hand on his elbow pulled him out of his thoughts as he came to a stop in snatching his backpack from the floor.

"Dude," Tucker's voice was low even though all of the students around them were to busy gathering up their stuff to take any notice of what they were doing. "I know what you're thinking. I've been there okay and let me tell you that you just have to tough out the rest of the day alright? It's hard but you can't just go running home."

"Somethings wrong Tucker. Like really wrong. I..."

"I'm sure that he's just sick. Dash messaged me earlier saying that he'd pushed him into the fountain. He's probably just got a cold."

"He was supposed to go home and change hours ago." Danny said, his voice coming out more curt than he'd meant. "And why was he so late for school? You've got to think that somethings off."

Tucker just pressed his lips into a thin line, his hold tightening for just a moment before he let go.

"Just wait until after school. I'll cover your shift for tonight and you can spend it with him. Ask him than okay?"

Taking in a deep breath to try and calm himself, Danny gave a short nod. He didn't have much else of a choice after all. Still, his choice seemed to make Tucker happy as he smiled back and threw an arm around his friend's shoulders, leading them out of the classroom and into the busy hallway.

(***)

In Danny's mind the rest of school had seemed like it had dragged on forever. He could barely wait for the second hand to finally reach back to the twelve. The bell hadn't even finished sounding off before he was out of his chair and out of the room.

Swinging his backpack over his shoulders he manoeuvred his way around the rest of the students as they poured out of their classrooms. Normally he wouldn't have minded just going with the flow of things and taking his time to get out, but he didn't want to waste another second away from Nights. He just had to get home and he had to see him. Just to make sure that he was alright or that he was getting better or something.

As he skipped down the steps at the front of the school he had to hold himself back from flat out sprinting home. It would look to weird for him to just start booking it off school grounds. Why some kids did that he didn't want to draw any type of attention to himself knowing that Sam was still around somewhere. He knew that she could keep up with him and he really didn't want her to follow him back to Phantom's house. Even though he told himself this over and over again in his mind, his body hummed with an energy-no, a need, to run and get there quicker.

Danny outwardly scowled at himself. He really shouldn't have been this worked up. Tucker was probably right. Phantom had probably just gotten a bit of a cold hanging out in the chilly weather in wet clothes. But...that just didn't sound right. And Nights should have gone home to change and he wasn't in class and...

"Hunter!"

Danny jumped at the sound of his name, his head snapping over to the road to see the one who had called him. Paulina was sitting in a high end sports car, leaning over the passengers seat to speak to him through the window. He just came to a stop and stood there blinking at her for a moment. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that for a second he didn't even recognize her. Finally taking a look around he realized that he was actually wandering into the middle of the street, and no doubt would have gotten nailed by any passersby if she hadn't called him and broken him out of his thoughts.

"Come on. Hop in. I'll drive you home."

Figuring that it would get him to Phantom faster anyways Danny pulled the door open and slipped in. As he closed the door she started forwards again.

"Seat belt."

"Right, sorry."

His mind still felt like it was in a haze as he quickly clicked himself in while she rolled up his window. Rubbing his hands over his face he let out a long groan before he dropped them back to his lap.

"Thanks for driving me Lean." He muttered.

"It's totally fine Hunts." She assured him, reaching over and patting his leg before moving both hands back to the wheel. "I'm just glad that I like, found you before some one else ran you over."

"I know. I should watch where I'm going. I just...I was a little lost in thought."

"Worried about Nights?"

There was really no reason to deny it so Danny just gave a nod of his head. Paulina in turn let out a long sigh, her gaze turning half massed as her finely sharpened nails tapped against the steering wheel.

"I think it's just the cutest thing. You two are always so worried about each other."

"I don't want anything to happen to him." Danny said, turning his gaze to stare out the window. "I should have gone with him this morning when he went home. Something could have happened to him. He was acting really weird and he looked really sick...I just..." Trailing off Danny made some type of vague gesture with his hands as his words failed him.

"Val said that he was just under the weather. He pretty much just passed out once he got home. I think he just like, needed some rest you know? I mean like you and Tucker have been training him in different ways to use his energy right? Maybe without even realizing it he's been wiping himself out."

Danny guessed that made sense. He'd seen what happened to Nights when he was drained of ghost energy, and he had been working a lot on his force fields. And Danny guessed that he hadn't really been giving Nights to much time to recover, not with all of their...nightly training. If Phantom was exhausting himself though than why wouldn't he just say something? Danny would have understood. He knew that the human body could only do so much before it would surrender to rest. The idea that he'd been pushing Nights to hard made it feel like someone had dropped a rock in the pit of his stomach.

"I'll make sure that he gets lots of food and rest than. He doesn't like to stay still but I'm sure I can tempt him with the Gravity Falls show or something."

"He's a fan of that sitcom?" Paulina asked as they turned onto his street.

"Ya. It's the only one that he'll sit and watch all the way through." Danny said, unable to help the soft smile that stretched over his face at all the memories of seeing Nights excited face whenever it came on.

"Cool. We should totally compare theories."

"I'm sure he'd have fun with that." Danny agreed, unbuckling himself as she pulled up beside their apartment.

"Alright there you go. Give Danny my wish okay? I would go up there myself but I'm already late for a 'play date' with Sam."

Danny found his attention snapping back to her with his fingers curled around the door handle. While he remembered that Sam had been forced to hangout with Paulina before thanks to her parents, he had no idea that it was still a thing that happened.

"You're hanging out with Sam?"

As her brows furrowed together and a frown tugged at her lips Danny could see that she wasn't a fin of the idea at all.

"It's not my choice. I know she like, your friend and all that but she's such a downer it's tiring."

Danny couldn't help but chuckle at her words. Sam really could be exhausting to be around if she didn't like the people she was with. It was something that Tucker had, had to go through when they first met and something Danny had seen first hand. While Sam really didn't make it easy to get along with it was worth it in the end.

"Well, try and have fun." He snickered, watching her roll her eyes as he turned back to the door and through it open. "Thanks Lean!"

"Don't mention it!"

He didn't waste any time in ducking into the building, dashing towards the stairs and running up every flight two steps at a time. He didn't even wait till he was at the door before he started to fish his keys out of his pocket and shoved it in the second he was there. Pushing the door open with his shoulder he quickly kicked off his shoes and dropped his bag to the ground.

"Jack I'm home!" He called out, making sure he wasn't to loud as he marched passed the kitchen.

"Oh, Hunter I wanted to..."

"Ya I'll be right there. I just want to check on Nights quickly." Danny interrupted as he continued up to Phantom's room.

Carefully he pushed the door open a crack, peering in to see the room bathed in darkness and a lump under the covers. Making sure to be as quiet as possible he made his way into the room and tiptoed over to the bed. As silent as he was, his presence alone must have been felt by the other as Nights shifted under his sheets and tilted his head back.

"Hunter?"

Sliding onto the bed Danny was quick to wrap his arms around the ghost teens waist and pull him against his chest.

"Hey." His voice came out in a low whisper as he gave a chaste kiss to the boy's cheek. "How are you feeling?"

Nights gave out a low groan as he shifted in the others hold until he was facing Danny. "Drained. I feel like someone stole all my energy." He admitted before giving a halfhearted shrug of his shoulders. "Getting better now though. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Smiling softly at the boy's enthusiasm Danny gently raised his hand to start running his fingers through his hair. Nights let out a content sigh, his eyes sliding closed as he leaned into the touch before Danny continued.

"What happened after you left? I thought you said you were going to change?"

"Em," Phantom gave a light hum, not fully focused on Danny's words as his eyes peered open again, "I left to go home."

"Ya but why did you come back to school in the same clothes, what took you so long to get back?"

At these questions Nights finally shifted his head away, his gaze glancing to the side for a second as he thought about his answer.

"I...I don't know..."

"What?"

"I don't know." Nights repeated, sitting up as his brows scrunched in confusion. "I remember heading home and than...I don't remember what happened after that. It was like I blacked out and than I was in school."

Sitting up so he was next to the teen Danny couldn't help the small ball of dread from clenching in his gut. This didn't sound right. Just what had happened in those few hours that Nights had been out? Why couldn't he remember it?

Reaching across Phantom, Danny clicked on the bedside lamp. He was quick to apologize when the boy flinched and gave out a low growl from the sudden sting to his eyes but he didn't waste any time in carefully looking Nights over. All in all he didn't seem to be in any bad shape. There were no bruises or marks and everything felt fine so nothing was broken. Frowning a little in thought he tried to work through any of the test he had done and remember if he'd ever had a case of a ghost blackout.

"Fenton I'm fine."

Being drawn back in by Nights' voice he couldn't help but be put at ease by the smile on the others face.

"Don't worry so much okay? I was probably just on autopilot or something. Must have just got lost in my own thoughts." Nights said with a small roll of his eyes.

"Ya I guess but..." Danny trailed off as he noticed something in the green orbs he'd all but memorized months ago.

Raising his hand he cupped the others cheek and carefully held him still. Although Nights seemed confused he didn't pull back any and allowed Danny to stare into his eyes.

There was something in them. Something dirty and wrong in the vast expanse of green. Tiny little flakes of red sprinkled here and there, unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it. That had never been in Nights gaze before though. Never before had Danny seen any hint of red in the wide fields of green. What was that all about?

"Something wrong Hunter?" Phantom questioned, slowly pulling himself back as Danny allowed his hands to drop to his lap.

"Maybe. What could cause..."

"Danny?"

Anything that he was going to say suddenly flew from his mind at the sound of his name. His whole body froze and every muscle tensed as the door gave a low creak as it was pushed the rest of the way open. Phantom was the one who snapped him out of it, lightly hitting on his shoulder and jerking his head in the direction of his door. Taking in a deep breath Danny finally turned to look at the one who had entered.

"Hey Mom."


	43. Chapter 43

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 43

Danny felt his gaze shifting from Maddie to Fenton when he prosperously moved himself to block the ghost from the view of his mother.

"What are you doing here?"

Danny almost felt bad about the crestfallen look over the woman's face at the words of her son. The accusation in Fenton's tone alone was bad enough, the fact that he was actively hiding the 'ghost in the room', protecting him from her, showing her that he saw her as a threat, really must have torn at her. He could understand where Fenton was coming from, really he could, after all she had stabbed Nights and fully intended to kill him, and had done some terrible stuff to other ghosts but...

"Hunter, it's okay." He muttered, placing a hand on the others shoulder, feeling how taut it was underneath his fingers. "I don't think she's here for a fight."

There was no way that Jack would have let her in if that was the case. There was no way that he would have let her hang around and wait for the boy's to get home if her plan was to attack them. His Father may have acted like an airhead on occasion but if there was something he was not it was stupid. Jack wouldn't let anything hurt his boys. Danny or Fenton. If he truly thought that Maddie was here to hurt either of them she wouldn't have made it in the door.

"He's right Danny." Maddie said softly, as if she thought that speaking to loud would get her thrown out of the room. "I just came to talk, to both of you."

Neither of them missed the way that for the first time ever, she had called Danny a he. She didn't call him an 'it' or a 'thing', for once she was actually seeing him as human. Danny himself felt one of his brows arch as he took her in once more, this time with a much more calculating eye. He had no idea just what had happened to her since the last time he had seen her, but something about her had definitely changed.

"Hear her out."

Danny could feel some of the tension leaving Fenton's shoulders as he let out a long breath. Visibly his whole body relaxed as he reached up and placed his hand on top of Danny's, keeping it on his shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze. In return Danny squeezed his shoulder, hoping that was enough to urge him to continue.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Seeing that she was being given a chance Maddie let out a long breath as she clasped her hands together before her.

"I...well first off, I wanted to apologize."

Apologize? Well she did have quite a bit to apologize for Danny supposed but just what she thought she was going to apologize for he couldn't help but be curious. Out of habit he scooted closer to Fenton, resting his head on his shoulder as he waited for her to continue. Her thinking appeared to come to a stop for a moment as she watched them, but she visibly shook her head to clear her thoughts before she continued.

"Phantom, I'm...I'm sorry that I tried to kill you."

Danny was impressed that she stared at him the whole time she said it, her voice unwavering and her gaze unblinking. He could see that there was no hidden sarcasm anywhere in there, that she truly meant every word she was saying.

"I was just so afraid of losing my son and he was so attached to you. But I was wrong, and killing you wouldn't have done anything and I had no right to try and snuff you out. I'm sorry for hunting you and for everything that I've done to other ghosts in the name of science and research. Can you ever forgive me?"

In all honesty Danny had never held much of a grudge against her in the first place. Sure when she had been about to stab him to death he'd been terrified, but he hadn't hated her. She was afraid of losing her son. She was afraid that Danny would end up snapping or tricking Fenton and that he would end up killing him eventually. If there was anyone in the world who knew just what lengths a mother would go to in order to protect their child it would be him. Her being here right now, turning her back on everything that she had ever known and apologizing to her supposed worst enemy was proof of just how much she cared for her son.

There was no way that Danny could deny something like that.

Smiling softly at her he gave a small nod of his head. "Of course, thank you Maddie."

She smiled back at him in return, some of the tension leaving her hands as her gaze shifted towards Fenton.

"And Danny, I'm sorry for pushing you away and for making you have to choose between one or the other. You're my son and I should have respected your differences and your opinion. I should have listened to you when you tried to tell me. I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"I'm sorry but no."

"What!?"

Surprisingly the outburst didn't come from Maddie, she was in to much shock to say anything. No, the outburst came from Danny himself, who had pulled back the moment he heard 'sorry' leave the others lips.

"Fenton are you serious?"

Just what was going on? What kid in there right mind wouldn't take a sincere apology from their parent? Who wouldn't want to hear them apologize when they were in the wrong? Just what was Fenton thinking?

"You can't tell me you're falling for this." Hunter hissed, taking a glance over his shoulder and meeting Danny's glare with his own. "This is a manipulation tactic Nights, don't be so naive."

"No Danny! I swear I'm not...!"

"Why would you expect me to believe you?" Hunter snapped, turning back on his mother while reaching back and placing a hand on Danny's shoulder to move him behind him again. "You've raised me my whole life on these types of tricks. Why would you think I would fall for it?"

"Danny..."

"I don't want to hear it." Fenton snapped as Danny felt the strongest urge to strangle his boyfriend.

Seeing as how he couldn't just flat out murder Fenton however he did the next best thing and hit him upside the head. Hard.

"Ow! Nights what the he..!?"

"Look at her Fenton." Danny's voice was a low growl as he forcefully turned his boyfriend's head back to face his mother.

A river of tears with no signs of stopping, flowed down her cheeks. Her entire face was blank, her gaze turned towards the ground and her mind completely gone. She probably couldn't even hear the other two boys in the room. She probably couldn't even see them arguing. She was completely crushed, her soul had just been smashed into a million pieces and what was left of her now was an empty husk of her former self.

"Does that really look like the face of someone who's trying to trick you?" Danny hissed against the others ear as Hunter gave a shake of his head.

"You don't understand Nights." His voice was barely a whisper, as if he was choking and was forcing ever single word out. "This isn't true. It's just some trick. She's just..."

Shock wrapped around Danny's mind when he took a look at Hunter. The boy's whole face had gone white and his hands were shaking badly. Any of the anger that the ghost had softened as he carefully wrapped his arms around Fenton's waist, pulling him back tightly as a shutter of a gasp slipped passed the boy's lips.

"This is real Fenton. She's not going to go back on what she said. She's truly sorry and she wants you to be in her life again. Don't be afraid."

A broken sob was pulled from Fenton's lips and ripped at Danny's heart, but he allowed his boyfriend to pull away and run to his mother anyways. When Fenton wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace Maddie nearly fell right over. Her arms snapped around him, her eyes going wide as she broke out of her thoughts and tears of another nature spilled down her cheeks.

"I thought you hated me." Fenton sobbed, hiccuping against her neck as she softly cooed at him.

"No, Danny no." She said, gently running her fingers in his hair to sooth him. "You're my son, you did nothing wrong, I could never hate you."

Danny couldn't help the ghost of a smile that tugged at his lips as he watched the two before him. He was happy for Hunter, but he was starting to feel like maybe he shouldn't be here anymore. After all this looked like it would now be a private family moment. Deciding to take his leave he carefully went invisible and walked over to his door. Only once he was outside did he softly close it and reappear again. He wasn't shocked at all to his his Dad standing right to the side, his arms crossed as he stared blankly at the wall across from him. Giving him a small smile Danny leaned on the wall next to him.

"Thanks, for letting her come here." He said, earning his father's attention as Jack turned to look down at him.

"I should be thanking you. I don't know many people who would forgive someone who tried to murder them."

Danny could only smile sheepishly at his father. Maybe some day they would be able to talk about all the close encounters Danny came to with death on a daily basis no thanks to his reckless ways but today wasn't the time for that.

"She was doing what she thought she had to. I can't blame her for that. At least now she knows better."

A tired but real smile graced his father's features as he reached out and ruffled his son's hair.

From the other side of the door they could hear muffled voices. No doubt the two had managed to calm down enough that they could actually speak to one another now. Danny was sure they had quite a bit to catch up on and the last thing that he wanted to do was interrupt them. So instead he gave a jerk of his head to his father to head towards the kitchen. He wasn't sure about everyone else but he was starving, and the energy he'd used to go invisible back there really felt like it had taken a lot out of him. He needed to eat and he knew that after they were done, Fenton and Maddie wouldn't mind having a bite to eat either. Maybe they could even all sit around the table and talk about what was going on and what was going to change because of it.

Either way, first things first. Danny and his father had some cooking to do. Or if they wanted their food to be edible, his father had some cooking to do, Danny was probably just going to pass out on the couch.

(***)

Sam could not believe that this was happening right now. Honestly her parents had an annoying habit of dragging her into things, but springing this on her last minute? That was a new low.

"I can't. I already have plans." She snapped out once more, her scowl deepening as their pearly white smiles only grew even wider.

"Oh Samantha,"

"It's Sam."

"You know that we're only trying to do the best for you." Her mother finished, carrying on as if her daughter had never spoken.

"No you want me to be some pin up poster child of a perfect girly daughter." Sam put in, throwing her hands up in the air. "And that's not what I am!"

"Now princess,"

"Don't call me that."

"Wouldn't you be so much happier if you dressed in brighter colours and smiled more?" Her Dad put in as she scowled at the ground and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Now I know that ever teenage goes through a 'rebellious' stage, but don't you think you've had yours long enough?" He continued as her mother nodded her head.

"Yes, honestly dear you're starting to become an embarrassment at every event we attend."

Sam took in a deep breath at her mother's words, allowing them to wash over her as she always did whenever they spoke. There would be no point in trying to fight against them, or change their minds, they were set in their ways.

"I've already got plans with someone." She said her words slowly, hoping to control the tone of rage just shimmering beneath the surface. "They're not the kind of plans that you can just take a rian check on either. If I don't show up it's not going to be happy."

"You can make plans with your drug dealer later." Her father muttered, the smile now gone from his face as he nodded his head in the direction of the door. "I can see Paulina waiting for you out there already. If you skip this time than you will be confined to your room right after school for the next two weeks."

If they did that than there was no way that she would ever be able to get a hold of Walker. At least not for another two weeks and who knew just how long Danny had left. The quickest way to get her plan into motion would be to hangout on this play date with Paulina for the next few hours. All she had to do was get through that and than she would be golden. Although Walker was no doubt going to be pissed surely it couldn't be to mad once she told it what was going on. Ever since that spectral troublemaker had shown up Walker had wanted to throw it in jail. Once it had almost happened too, if it hadn't been for Danny of course. Once she gave out the ghosts name and location it would only be all to easy to get 'Phantom' out of the picture and to place herself back in.

Swallowing down any words that she wanted to say she hiked her bag higher on her shoulder and turned on her heels to walk out the door. Once she had it slammed behind her she gave a hard roll of her eyes at the sight of the biggest airhead in school reapplying her makeup. At the sound she had caused however Paulina managed to lift her eyes away from the vanity long enough to level Sam with an unimpressed stare.

As Sam made her way down the steps of her house she could already hear the obnoxious pop music playing from the inside, even with the windows drawn all the way up to keep the hot air inside. Walking over to the passengers side she quickly slipped in and shut the door.

"Seat belt."

Giving yet another eye roll Sam uncrossed her arms and reached over for her seat belt, buckling it in without a word before her arms returned to their normal position.

"Do we have to listen to this?" She muttered, glaring out of the front window when he parents waved from the side panel, their million watt smiles back in place.

"I like it." Paulina said as she gave the two adults a quick wave before pulling back onto the street. "And after that last trick you pulled you're not allowed to touch my radio anymore."

Sam couldn't help the smug smirk that pulled at the corners of her lips at the memory. It had been fun to switch all of Paulina's Hiphop, bubble gum garbage to screamo, heavy metal groups.

"Besides, we like, only have to hangout with each other for two hours. It won't kill you to listen to it that long."

"It just might."

They lapsed into silence after that, just like they always did. It was going to be a long two hours, just like it always was. There was so much more important plans that Sam could be doing, just like she always had. But no. Instead she got stuck listen to Barbie hum away to some trashy song on the radio that was about...a guy being in love with a girl's body...or something. Honestly did they not have anything more original?

Just as Sam was about to roll her eyes once more she caught something in the side mirror that made her heart stutter to a stop. Standing at the other end of her street with a sour look on its face was Walker. Sam could feel its eyes burning into her as Paulina continued to drive away, singing along with the song. She could pretty much feel its rage rolling of of it in waves. To see her taking off like this was breaking their appointed meeting time.

And she was pretty sure that was against the rules...


	44. Chapter 44

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 44

She was just waiting for it at this point.

They had managed to make it to Paulina's house without being stopped, but Sam had watched the ghost stalk after them the whole way and if that didn't make her feel like some sort of tiny creature just waiting to be devoured than the look that she was being given sure did.

When they had gotten out of the car it had ducked behind a corner, watching her before disappearing. When she had entered into Paulina's room, shaking off the dizziness that the overdose of pink and shiny things brought on, she had nearly screamed when it appeared for a flash in the large window that took up nearly the whole wall.

For her part Paulina seemed to realize that something was going on, but she didn't say anything about Sam's, more than average, unusual behaviour as she took a seat at her make up table and started to rummage around for this or that.

"I know that your parents seem to love it when I doll you up. So why don't we just get that out of the way first? I have a history test that I need to study for." Paulina muttered as she picked out a few different cases and set them on top of the table.

Still shaken, it took Sam a little longer than she would have liked to admit to wrap her mind about what had just been said. It felt like the rest of the world was dragging itself through the mud, as if time was somehow slower, the calm right before the storm. She knew that this wasn't going to last. /that their time spent listening to music and putting up with makeovers was going to be interrupted by a powerful ghost with a bad attitude. It just bothered her that she had to wait for it.

"Didn't take you for one who studied." Although she managed to get the words out, her eyes continued to drift around the room, looking for anything that could have been out of place or that hadn't been there since her last visit.

She might not have liked Paulina, but she would never put one of her fellow students in danger.

"The classes are boring enough the first time. Like, why would I want to do them again by failing?"

Sam didn't bother responding as her eyes passed over a door on the other side of the room. She completely forgotten that along with the master bedroom, Paulina also had a private bathroom attached to it. If she could duck in there for a few minutes than that should have been able to give her enough time to talk to Walker and let him know about what was going on. If she was going to do so though than she was going to have to move fast. There was no doubt in her mind that the ghost's patience wasn't going to last much longer.

"Sounds like a great plan." She said absently with a quick nod of her head, "I'm just going to run to the bathroom first."

"Um...sure thing."

Making a quick get away to the other side of the room Sam shut the door and turned the lock.

"She doesn't look like any ghost to me."

It was only thanks to the years of training that she had received personally from Maddie that Sam didn't scream out right. Instead she took a moment to swiftly compose herself and only once she was sure that her emotions wouldn't be able to be read, did she turn around to face the other.

While it had taken less time for it to show up than she thought, she couldn't say that she wasn't grateful that it meant that their conversation could be over that much sooner.

"Walker. You got my note I assume?"

"Would there be any other reason for me to be in this filthy, lawless wasteland if I hadn't?" Walked questioned back, the glare in his gaze matching her's perfectly.

Sam gave a light hum to that, brushing aside the small talk and jumping straight into business.

"The ghost I sent you the note for isn't here." She admitted. "I was forced to come here by my parents and couldn't get out of it."

"So you've just wasted my time." It wasn't a question, but a statement and although she didn't show it, Sam felt a wave of uneasiness wash over her.

"Relax, you won't be leaving completely empty handed." She scoffed, shifting her stance as if she was getting more comfortable. In reality she was getting ready just in case she had to dodge an attack or make one of her own. "I've got some information for you, and even a location." Thank god she had managed to place that tracker on Danny's backpack during gym class.

If her hunch was right, and she was barely ever wrong in these matters, than she highly doubted that Danny and that ghost spent very much time apart from one another. No doubt if Walker could find Danny than he could find the menace who had swooped in and ruined her life.

"But before I give you anything I need to make something clear first."

Although his eyes narrowed at the idea of having to wait even longer, Walker didn't prolong their chat by questioning her about it.

Seeing that she had his attention Sam crossed her arms over her chest. "You know the ghost hunter Danny Fenton?"

"What kind of question is that? You know I've worked with him and his mother for years."

"Yes well, he's not much of a hunter anymore." Sam said, her annoyance coming out in a loud sigh. "He's been... entranced by a ghost."

Walker arched a hairless brow at that, his oddly blank face more expressive than she would have thought.

"It's made him give up hunting, and now he spends every moment with this ghost. If I tell you where to find it, I have to have your word that Danny won't be harmed."

The room was silent for a moment, the seconds ticking by and stretching until Sam could almost swear that she could here the ticking of the clock from the other side of the door.

"If you know where this ghost is," Walker started, his voice so sudden she almost jumped, "than I don't see a reason for me being here. I'm not your errand boy and you've got more than enough equipment to handle this situation on your own."

"No we don't." Sam insisted, making a move to reach out and grab him to stop him from leaving before thinking better of it. "If we could handle this than I wouldn't have bothered contacting you at all, trust me. I don't like you anymore than you like me." She grumbled, waiting until he'd faced her once more. "This ghost isn't...I've never encountered one like it before. It can disguise itself as human, it can break out of our containment device, it works on so many different emotional levels simultaneously that it leaves even my head in a spin. Besides, I think this is one that you, yourself want."

"Stop beating around the bush and just get to the point." Walker growled, its forming expanding in size as if to intimidate her.

"I know you've been after the ghost that's been helping your escaped prisoners stay out from behind your bars. What would you say if I told you that the ghost that's been causing me all of my problems is also the one that's been causing you all of yours?"

"That menace has no respect for the rules." Walker snarled, sharp teeth glinting in the dull light of the bathroom as the snarl worked its way over its face.

"Well, I managed to find out that, that ghost has been parading around my school as a student." She mumbled as she pulled out the tracking device from her pocket and handed it over to him. "It goes by Danny Phantom."

As the name passed by her lips the ghost became oddly still. Ghost always freaked her out with their almost animated stillness, the way that their bodies didn't move with any signs of life had always unsettled her, but this was like looking at a statue and just waiting for it to jump to life.

"Hood is Danny Phantom." The ghost muttered to itself, a twisted smirk slowly twisting over its face. "Well isn't that interesting."

Sam had no idea why that would be interesting but she also didn't really care. As long as Walker was interested in throwing the spectral trouble maker in jail she wouldn't bother with much of the details.

"So will you get rid of it for me?"

Her words brought its focus back to her, the smile that had been over its lips vanishing as a stern frown worked its way over its face instead.

"Get rid of it for you?" Walker repeated, taking a step towards her.

Sam crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her shoulders back and trying to write off the uneasiness that befell her. Something had shifted in Walker. She wasn't sure just what it was, but there was something off about the way that it was staring at her now.

"Let's get one thing straight little girl." Her back hit the wall seconds before a large hand was slammed inches away from her face. She flinched, and she hated herself for it, but she barely had time to compose herself again before the smooth bone of its face was being held inches from her own. "I might allow your little hunting group to help me keep my rule breakers behind bars, but I don't work for you, and I don't 'get rid' of them for you either."

"Sam? Are you okay in there?"

Although Paulina's voice distracted Walker for a moment Sam found that she couldn't move. She'd never really been involved with the deals that Maddie and Danny had made with Walker, and she'd only really ever seen the ghost from a distance before. Seeing the done like creature in a spotless white suit was a little different to see so close up. She'd never noticed just how stretched the skin was over the face, never noticed just how much of the bone could be seen, as if the skin wasn't there at all. From her quick glances she had never noticed the fact that he didn't have a nose, just an empty hole where one use to be but appeared to have been...torn or ripped off at some point.

Having him...it, so close she couldn't help but wonder...just what had happened to him before he'd become this? Just why was he so obsessed with rules and locking people away?

Any of her strayed thoughts were chased from her mind the second that Walker snapped his attention back to her. She choked on her gasp when a paper white hand snapped out and wrapped around her throat. Her hands reached up to claw at his instinctively, but they didn't manage to do much as she was yanked forwards, the smell of rotting flesh burning her nose as she was dragged off her feet and into the air.

"Now Hood broken the rules, so I will be taking him in." Walker said as Sam's eyes screwed shut while she tried to kick and squirm her way out of its hold. "But I think I've found a better way to 'get rid' of your problem. Why don't you just take a permanent vacation?"

Walker dropped her when the bathroom door was kicked open. Sam fell to her knees, gasping for breath as she heard a sound of a gun being shot off seconds before a low growl filled the room.

"What are you doing here Walker?"

Shock couldn't even come close to describe the feeling that froze Sam as she looked up to see Paulina holding an ecto blaster in a stance that looked away to familiar and practiced to belong to the ditz cheerleader that she knew. Just what was going on here?

When she took a quick glance at Walker she could see that it was just as surprised as she was, its mouth in a tight line and the bones of its brows bending down to form a hard glare. If it had ever seen her before than obviously it didn't remember.

"Have we met?" Walker questioned, his voice oddly calm for something that had a gun pointed at it.

Paulina's face was set in a hard line, her gaze focused on nothing else than the threat in the room as she slowly shifted until she was blocking Sam from view.

"Not formally." She muttered, being careful to eye the ghost from where she stood.

When she didn't say anything more than that Walker gave a small hum. The second he took a step back however Paulina took a shot in his path, bringing him to a stop as he turned to glare at the smaller female.

"I like, can't let you go. Not until I know what's going on." She hissed as Sam pushed herself to her feet, her hand coming up to rub at her throat without her thinking about it.

"I don't answer to you." Walker muttered, his words earning him a shake of the head from the cheerleader.

"I know what you do in the ghost zone Walker." She said, and Sam wondered just how she knew that.

Just who was this person standing before her posing as one of her classmates? She'd known Paulina for years! She'd been going over to her house and doing makeovers for gods sake! There was no way she would be able to hide the fact that she was a hunter. And not only that but wasn't she also friends with Phantom? If she was a hunter than surely she had to know that it was a ghost? So why hadn't she done anything to catch it? No, better question than that. Who was teaching her and how was she equip?

"You don't come to the human realm, and Sam doesn't talk to ghosts. What are you two planning?"

Wait, was she lumping Sam in with the ghost? Seriously? She wasn't the bad guy here! She was trying to get rid of it!

"I just need him to get rid of a problem for me." Sam mutter, the only indication that Paulina had even heard her being the slightest tilt of her head. "Walker's just going to collect a ghost and than it will go back to the ghost zone." Seeing as how Paulina was a fellow hunter she saw no reason to keep this information from her. Surely she must have been aware of Phantom, maybe becoming friends with it was her way of keeping close tabs. Maybe she'd come to the same realization that Sam had. Phantom was to powerful for them to go up against. If they wanted it gone, than they were going to have to use something that could really do some damage.

Whatever she said however must have not sit well with the girl as Paulina suddenly snapped around to face Sam, her concentration broken as her mouth fell open.

"What!? You're sending him after Danny? Are you...!?"

Before she could finish they were both hit with a powerful blast of ecto energy, sending them flying straight into the wall. They both recovered quickly, Sam and Paulina both rolling back to their feet and spinning around. Paulina cursed as she lowered her weapon, seeing that Walker had disappeared in the few seconds after it had attacked them.

She was still looking at the wall where he had disappeared when Paulina turned on her and shoved her into the wall. Not for the last time today was Sam shocked by the power she could feel in the hands that were clamped down on her arms, and the level of rage that was burning behind well done up eyes. She'd never seen this level of anger before coming off of the girl. Paulina was always smiling over one thing or another and nothing seemed to bother her. This was like a whole new person that Sam had never met and she didn't know how to wrap her mind around the fact that they were the same person.

"What were you thinking!?" Paulina snapped. "Does he knew where Danny is?" She growled, appearing to have to force herself away from the goth so that she wouldn't hurt her.

Just what Danny was she talking about though?

"Okay just one second." Sam muttered, her hand coming up to rub against her forehead while her brows furrow. "What the hell is going on here? How do you know Walker? How do you know how to use an ecto blaster? How...?"

"I don't have time for this Sam." Paulina snapped, holstering the gun as she reached into her pocket and took out her phone. "Does Walker know where Phantom is?"

Frowning at the short tone Sam dropped her hand to her side.

"I gave him my tracking device."

"Agh!"

Paulina growled as she jabbed her thumb into her cell and brought it up to her ear. She didn't have to wait long, maybe about to rings before the person on the other end picked up.

"Val, it's Paulina. Walker's going to be heading to your location to grab Phantom. Be ready."

She didn't even bother with a goodbye as she hung up and turned her attention back to the pale teen next to her.

"What on earth were you thinking Sam?" Paulina snarled as she marched passed the girl and back into her room.

"What are you talking about? I'm just getting rid of the problem. We're ghost hunters, hunting them down is what we do."

The words had barely left her mouth before Paulina turned on her, stabbing a pointed nail an inch below her collarbone and forcing her back a step.

"I'm not like you." She hissed, her eyes blazing with absolute fury. "I don't go around destroying families and afterlives. I help people the best way that I can. I don't act on my own selfish desires. So don't you dare place us in the same boat."

"What are you talking about?" Sam snapped, knocking her hand away and taking a step forward. "Ghosts are dangerous and they need to be gotten rid of. They're the ones who tare families apart! I'm only trying to help Danny!"

"You bubble headed idiot!"

"Girls? Is everything okay in there?"

The sound of her parents startled both of them. Sam watched warily as Paulina took in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before a fake smile came to her face.

"We're fine Mom! Just watching a reality show!"

"Okay."

The second that the footsteps faded away from the door Paulina's smile dropped as she turned her glare back to Sam.

"I have to go and help, but I can't just leave you here."

"Than let me come with you."

Her words only earned her a scoff as the other shook her head.

"I'm not letting you come with us and helping Walker."

"And I'm not letting you help that ghost brainwash Danny." Sam snapped back, her hands balling up to fists at her side as Paulina shifted her stance with a glare of her own.

"Let's make this quick. I've got friends to help out."

"Oh don't worry, it's not going to be much of a fight." Sam muttered, her brows pulling down sharply over her eyes as she brought her hands up.

She had to get this over and done with quick. Walker hadn't actually agreed to her deal, she had no idea if he would end up hurting Danny or not, but she didn't plan on letting him fight that battle alone.


	45. Chapter 45

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 45

So far Danny didn't think that this was to bad. While he hadn't gotten off to a good start with Maddie for obvious reasons, it was kind of nice to have her here, sitting around the table with them as they munched away on a cooked chicken and spaghetti squash meal.

If nothing else Fenton at least seemed to be happier. Laughing more often at Jack's jokes and unable to keep a smile off his face for very long. It was nice to see the normally stressed out hunter finally relaxing as they ate. It felt like Danny got to see another side of him and he would never get tired of that.

"You must tell me Jack." Maddie suddenly said, a smile still stretched over her lips from the joke that she'd just told moments before hand. "Just when did you learn how to cook?"

Danny raised a brow over at the woman while his father quickly finished off the bite that he had in his mouth. Had there been a time that his Dad didn't know how to cook? The earliest memories that Danny had were of his father baking his birthday cake and cooking him and his mother meals. Did he learn how to cook just for them?

"Ah, I just picked up a few things over the years. I wanted Danny to grow up with a healthier diet than I had when I was a child."

When Jack reached out to ruffle his hair Danny smiled good naturally before shoving another bite of food into his mouth.

Danny's eyes glanced up at the feeling of being watched and caught Maddie looking at him. He couldn't really read the expression on her face, but it didn't appear to be malicious. In fact she almost seemed a little curious, and really Danny couldn't blame her for that. Tilting his head to the side he finished swallowing his bite before he placed his fork down.

"Anything you want to ask me?"

He didn't want his words to appear rude, or confrontational, but he was curious about any types of questions that she had.

The rest of the table fell silent, no one even bothered to move their utensils as their eyes fell to Maddie while they waited for her response.

She appeared off guard. Her eyes going wide as her mouth dropped open and a flushed of red appeared across her cheeks.

"Oh no I just…"

"It's okay." Danny snickered, unable but to help find it a little funny on how such a simple question left her so floored. "Go ahead."

He waited patiently as she bit her lip, her brows drawing together as she took a glance between both Fenton and Jack before her eyes were drawn back to Danny.

"I must admit that I find you to be very…Interesting. I just mean I've never even heard of a half ghost half human before, I didn't think it was possible but yet…"

"Here I am." Danny grinned, waving out his hands in a jazz like manner. "Don't worry though. Apparently it's a freak like thing. It's never happened before. It's not supposed to be possible so…" Danny muttered, trailing off as he gave a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well I'm happy it happened than." Fenton said as he reached over and placed his hand over Danny's, giving the other a smile so warm that Danny couldn't help but return the gesture.

"Oh my." Maddie's voice drew their attention back to her and Fenton quickly pulled his hand back, his face going beat red as he stared down at the food. "Is this why you wanted to know if Danny was your son?"

"Wait, what!?" Both of their voices mixed flawlessly in unison with each other as their attention snapped to Jack. He gave them each a sheepish smile, along with a small shrug of his shoulders before he turned to Maddie.

"Wait, wait, wait." Fenton muttered, his elbow coming up beside his plate as he raised his hand to rub at his forehead. "What is this about?"

"Um, sweetie, meet Jazz's father. Jack Fenton."

Danny could feel his mouth dropping open and his eyes nearly popping out of his head as he turned to his Dad.

"I have a sister!?"

"Jazz is my half sister? But I thought…"

"Boy's please," Jack begged. "So much has happened today can we just save this for another night?"

"Nope." Danny said, pushing his food aside and placing both his elbows on the table, dropping his chin into his hands. "This sounds like a super interesting story."

Jack leveled a glare at his son, but Danny knew there was no real fire behind it. And he really did want to know what was going on. He had a long lost sister? That would be so cool! He'd always kind of wanted a sister, and now he might…wait…his sister would be Jazz, the red head that he'd seen a few times with Fenton. So he'd already met her. Well she did seem pretty cool from what he'd seen, and she'd been on Hunter's side when the others had turned on him. Oo, he liked her already. He was going to make sure that they ended up becoming fast friends. Besides, he was sure that she would have some awesomely embarrassing stories and pictures of Fenton. After all he was her…wait.

"Wait, so is Hunter his son?" Danny asked, turning his attention to Maddie while she raised a brow at him.

"Hunter? Who's..?"

"That would be me Mom." Fenton said as he gave a small raise of his hand. "We have nicknames that we go by so we don't get confused by which one people are asking for."

"Oh." Maddie said, her gaze switching between the two for a moment as a frown pulled at her lips. "And you look so alike. I mean I noticed it the first time but…it's just so uncanny. Same name, same face, but no. Dan…Hunter? Hunter isn't Jack's son. Jack was gone before I became pregnant with you."

"Oh my god this is the worst conversation ever." Fenton mumbled lowly under his breath as he dropped his head to the table, his words only going heard by Danny as he covered the smile across his own face, using his free hand to pat gently on the others back.

"So who is his Dad than?" Danny asked, earning himself a whack upside the head from his own Father for his blunt question. "Ow!"

"Danny! I am so sorry Maddie." Jack was quick to apologize, turning his big blue eyes to Maddie while Danny rubbed at the sore spot of his head as he grumbled lowly to himself.

His question however had caught the attention of Hunter. Although the boy didn't lift his head from the table, he tilted his head up until he was able to peer at his mother through his bangs. It had a different effect for the red head however, her eyes going distant as she gave a small shake of her head.

"It was a mistake." She mumbled, before she smiled down at her son, reaching across the table to take a hold of his hand. "You're the only good thing that came out of it."

"Aw." Danny couldn't help the small coo that slipped passed his lips but quickly fell back into silence when three brows raised at him. "Sorry."

Before any of them could discuss the conversation any further, there was a loud knock at their front door.

"Danny! Jack!Hunter! Open up!"

"Val?" Danny didn't waste any time in getting to his feet and swiftly flying over to his door.

When he opened it he was shocked to see a frazzled looking Valerie standing there, looking slightly out of breath and in her workout clothes.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Danny chuckled, but his humor died in his throat at the serious look over her face. "Seriously Val, what's wrong?"

"We have to get out of here." Val said, ducking into the house and grabbing a hold of Danny's wrist to tug him behind her. "I just got a call from Paulina and…What on earth is she doing here!?"

Maddie blinking in confusion at the young female that had just walked in on their dinner, turning an eye to Jack as he got to his feet.

"Valerie it's okay. She's not here to hunt anyone. She came to make amends."

"I'm so sure." Val sneered,her grip around Danny's wrist tightening almost painfully. "Or she could have been the one who ratted you out to Walker."

"Walker." Danny echoed, feeling his stomach twist as the name passed by his lips.

The last time he'd seen the man, Walker had been trying to snatch him up for his prison. The only thing that had stopped him had been the ghost shield and Hunter striking a deal with him. It definitely wasn't going to end well if he was on his way here now.

"Is he hunting me?" Danny mumbled, drawing Val's gaze from over her shoulder. "Or is he hunting Hood?"

That would make all of the difference in the world. If he was hunting Hood than they could do something. They could make it seem like he'd been chased off or something like that. If he was coming over to get Danny Phantom, well, than they were all pretty much f…

"She said Phantom. I'm pretty sure that he's coming for you, not the ghost protector."

"Shit." Danny cursed, his hand coming up to run down his face while he tried to get his thoughts together. "Okay, we could be in some trouble than."

"Why would we be in less trouble if he was coming for Hood?" Fenton asked, "Wasn't Hood the one who was helping all of his convicts stay out of jail?"

"Yup." Danny agreed, before giving the other a small smile. "But Hood isn't his grandson."

The whole room fell silent at his words. Slowly Maddie's gaze shifted over to Jack, her face set firmly as his remained blank.

"She was Walker's daughter?"

When Jack only gave a nod of his head Maddie brought her hand up to run through her hair as her eyes shot towards the floor. Danny gave a small tilt of his head as he took in the two adults, trying to piece together what clues they had given him tonight.

Obviously Maddie knew about Lydia. Obviously her and Jack use to be married at some point, or at the very least lived together and had a family. They no doubt worked together, but than Jack had taken off and met his Mom and Maddie had turned to the comfort of another, had Hunter and than put all her attention on her ghost research.

If the idea of Walker showing up any seconds wasn't screaming in his head for the most attention he would have given a little more thought to the situation, however Val was quick to refocus them as she pulled out her ecto blaster and pointed it at Maddie.

"We don't have time for this. We need to move now, and get her locked up somewhere."

"Valerie!" Hunter snapped, placing his hand on the top of her gun and shoving its muzzle to the floor. "That's my Mom!"

"And she also happens to be a hunter! What do you want me to do!?" Val snapped, but she didn't raise her gun again.

"Okay well, first and foremost I think we should get out of he…"

A loud crash interrupted Danny as part of the wall in their living room burst into the kitchen. From the impact alone the whole building shook, it was already on its last leg anyways and it wasn't going to to much for the whole thing to collapse, Danny could only hope that the inevitable fight wouldn't end up doing that much damage.

Everybody had to take a second to stabilize themselves, but Danny was the first to recover, being able to fly into the air and not having to depend on his legs. Seeing as how his Grandfather already knew who he was coming after, he didn't see any need to hide his face as he quickly shot passed everybody else and into the living room.

Ignoring the warning from the others he came to a stop just a few feet into the area, balling his hands into fist at his side while he glared at the large ghost who was now standing by his couch.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment. Walker looked him up and down, taking him in as the sounds of shuffling could be heard at a frantic pace behind him. Danny wasn't sure what he was looking for, weak spots, openings, reading energy signatures, but whatever it was, he didn't like the way that the green orbs burned into him even from such a distance.

"I see you've grown up well, if not to be a complete disappointment."

Danny fought hard against the hard eye roll that he wanted to give, instead forcing himself to keep a close eye on the ghost before him. The last thing he needed was to give Walker an opening of any kind.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, my Dad's plenty proud of me."

"A human's opinion means very little." Walker put in, his fingers twitching at his side as a soft green glow started to gather.

"I don't know. I've always found their opinions to be the more lively." Danny said, a smirk on his lips as he called up his own energy, watching in amusement as Walker's gaze narrowed.

"Was that…a pun?" He said slowly, as Danny gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"More of a distraction really."

Just was Walker opened his mouth to ask him what he was going on about, Hunter suddenly shot out from behind Danny, a spare ecto gun in his hands while he shot at the warden with sharp precision, hitting him twice in the chest.

Walker gave a deep grunt, managing to dodge the third shot and call up a shield to block the forth. As Hunter continued his shots Danny disappeared from view, moving in behind his grandfather's shield and only reappearing once he was right behind him. He lifted up his hands, ready to shot off the energy he'd been collecting since he'd heard Walker was coming, but his whole body suddenly seized. He couldn't force the power from out of his hands and towards his enemy at all. It was as if there was something blocking him.

Stop.

Danny could feel the air being forced from his lungs at the sound of the voice, suddenly having to gasp for breath as his hands dropped down to wrap around his throat. The subtle noise that he made caught Walker's attention, the ghost shooting him a look of surprise from over his shoulder.

"Well this makes things easier."

"Walker! Get away from my son!" Jack snapped his ecto bazooka and okay where had he been hiding that thing?- at the ready to fire at him.

Walker didn't seem to worried however, dropping the shield and reaching back to grab Danny, his hand wrapping around the back of his neck and picking him up off the ground. Instead of using him as a human shield like Danny figured he would, instead he tucked the boy close to his chest, as if to protect him from whatever Jack could throw at them.

"I wouldn't do that Jack. Ever seen a ghost in full rage mode? It's not a pleasant sight."

Everyone had frozen, Hunter shooting Danny a confused glance, no doubt wondering why the boy wasn't fighting back. Danny couldn't even move his mouth to explain that if he could he would. It was as if something else had full control of his body. It was as if he was back in Vlad's labs, unable to lift a finger to defend himself as they cut him open and ran multiple tests.

That didn't mean that he had to stop trying though, but the more he did the heavier his body began to feel, the more exhausted his limbs grew until they felt like lead hanging by his side.

Stop it. Give up. Go with him.

Gritting his teeth in response to the voice in his head Danny was going to have to say no.

Forcing as much energy as he could he shoved the voice to the back of his head, pushing his hands against Walker's side he just managed to get out enough energy to blast the other into the opposite wall. As Walker was picking himself up Danny quickly ran up to everyone else, trying to shove them all through the door so they could get out of their compromised location.

"We have to go. Somethings not…"

No! Don't go! STOP!

The echo in his head was nearly screeching, making his ears ring as his whole body locked up again. Hunter was the first one at his side, trying to pull him forward to no avail. Once he realized that Danny wasn't moving he placed a hand on Danny's cheek, trying to get his eyes to focus.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Don't…know…" Danny gritted out, panting with the effort it took to just get those few words out. "Something…wrong…I can't…"

"Danny we have to go!" Val said, grabbing a hold of his other arm and trying to tug her forward.

Danny could feel his breath becoming shorter and shorter, the corner of his vision slowly bleeding red as he fought hard against the voice in his head. As his sight slipped, so did his mind, and slowly his whole world just fell to black and silence.


	46. Chapter 46

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 46

The moment that Nights eyes turned red and his expression fell flat, Danny knew that something was terribly wrong.

He had just enough time to drop his hand from the others face and to tackle Val to the side before they could both be hit with a powerful ecto blast that took out the wall behind them.

"What the hell!?" Val hissed, rolling on to her feet and ducking behind the corner of the wall that was left.

Wasting no time in joining her Danny frowned at the sight of the one before him.

Peering around the corner he narrowed his gaze at the blank look over the halfa's face. It was unsettling, the whole of Nights' eyes were glowing solid red, no whites or pupils to be seen at all. The only other time he'd seen Nights' eyes glow like this was when he'd been worked into a rage. But this was so much different.

While Nights had been blinded by rage, his emotions had been easy to spot. He'd been easy to read, he wasn't hiding anything. This, this blankness. It was unnerving, absolutely spine chilling. It was as if he wasn't seeing his friends before him. Like he didn't even see his father. He was just completely blank, empty and void. Almost like he was possessed by something else.

"That's not Nights." Danny muttered, his gaze shifting for a moment as he watched Jack and Maddie quickly slip back into the kitchen just as Walker sent his own blast towards them. "He's not...somethings happened to him. I think Walker might have done something when he got him the first time."

"Like what?" Valerie questioned, but Danny could only give her a shrug in response.

"I don't know...mind control?"

"Well we can't fight him." Val grumbled, as Danny continued to take the other in.

"I don't think we have to."

Nights hadn't moved. Since firing his ecto blast at them he hadn't moved so much as an inch from his spot. He was just standing there, his hands at his side with a thick wave of green mist steaming off from the center of his palms. The dull glow that still emitted from the center of his hands was a very clear sign that if they tried to approach, his docile behavior would come to an end.

What did that leave them with though? If they didn't approach him than Walker was surely going to take him away. If they did than there was no doubt that Nights would turn on them again, and while Danny was sure the other would never do anything to hurt them, he wasn't in his right mind right now. It left everything up in the air and he couldn't stand that. He liked to have a plan, he needed to know what was going on, but so much had happened so quickly he felt like the rug was being pulled out from underneath his feet.

Just what could he do if he wanted to nab Nights though? The last thing that he wanted to do was hurt him, but in the same breath he knew that if Nights wanted, it would be all to easy for him to wipe them all out right now. Hell, he could probably take the building out all in one go and there was no way that they could risk so many civilian getting hurt.

Biting down on his bottom lip Danny tried to quickly formulate a plan in his head.

"Do you think if we could somehow knock him out..?"

"You got any idea on how to get behind him?" Val questioned, taking a step out from behind the wall before she had to jump back as a shot landed near her feet.

Danny barley had to think about it before he crouched low, getting his ecto blaster out at the ready as he turned to face her for a moment.

"Create a distraction."

Before she could veto his idea he dive rolled out from behind the wall, Nights jumping into sudden motion and snapping around to fire a blast at him. Danny just managed to dodge, getting in behind the couch as he rolled over to the other side and popped out from behind the arm. Taking aim he caught Walker's shoulder, drawing the bigger ghosts attention away from Maddie and Jack for a moment to snarl at him.

"Sam told me that you'd been corrupted by a ghost." Walker muttered, bring up his shield to block Danny's next hit before he took a step towards him, unaware as Maddie and Jack ran out to give a warning shot to Nights.

The sound of his best friends name on the others lips just sounded wrong, and Danny felt his heart clench painfully in his chest at what that could only mean. No doubt that Sam had been the one to rat them out to Walker. How she had managed to find out he had no idea, but even so he could still feel his gut wrenching at the idea that all of this was happening because of someone that he cared about. He knew that Sam wasn't evil. She wasn't doing this to hurt him. She was only trying to help, but that didn't make it any better. If only she had listened, if only he could have gotten through to her than none of this would have ever happened.

"I will say that I'm pretty shocked." Walker continued, throwing a blast straight at Val just as she got into position. "Thought you hated ghosts as much as I hate humans."

"Ya well, people change."

This time Danny ducked forward, getting in under his shield and pointing the gun right at Walker's chest before pulling the trigger.

If Walker had Nights under his control than fine. Maybe all they had to do was take Walker out and than he would go back to normal. Hopefully anyways. If anything in movies was to be believed.

Walker was sent flying back, slamming into the TV and smashing the object into a smoking mess of wires and broken plastic.

He could hear Jack from the other side of the room. His voice pleading for his son to stop. Chancing a glance over at them Danny could feel his mouth slip open at what he was seeing.

Jack was crouching before an injured Valerie who was being cradled by Maddie. He had one hand held out to his son, his face twisted in a strange mix of panic and despair as Nights looked down at them, his face as empty as it had been before. Nights own hands were glowing, and Danny didn't have to think twice about what was just about to happen in a few moments if he didn't do something.

Although he knew there wasn't anything he could do Danny still abandoned his spot, sprinting over to the others as fast as he could.

"Nights! No!"

He threw his arms open wide, screwing his eyes shut as he blocked his teammates from the blast of ecto energy that was let loose upon them.

As the seconds ticked by and no flesh taring pain ripped him apart, Danny slowly cracked his eyes open. At the faint glow of green his eyes shot open, startled to see a force field had sprung up out of nowhere in order to protect them. Snapping his head around he could see Nights through the thick smoke and dust that was clouding up the place. His eyes weren't red anymore. They were green, and wide, and terrified. His lips were parted as he panted, his hands shaking as they were stretched out towards the group, sweat dripping off his forehead as they locked their gazes together.

A flash of red appeared in his eyes once more, but whatever it was he seemed to be fighting back against it, screwing his eyes shut as his hands dropped and he fell to his knees, his hands reaching up to grab at his head as an ear piercing scream tore from his lips.

Danny winched, wanting to reach out to him but being stopped by the shield that was still somehow up.

"Nights!"

He had a feeling that even if he had stood next to the boy's side, there would have been no way that Phantom would have heard him. The boy didn't even realize when Walker walked up to him, slamming a baton again the back of his head and than scooping him up before he could hit the ground.

Beating his fist against the foggy green didn't even make it shutter, and his own screaming and cursing did little to deter Walker from his plans as he turned away from the humans and towards the wall he'd taken out on his arrival.

"Danny's coming back home with me. Don't expect him to write."

"Walker! Walker get back here! Bring him back!" Danny's whole throat felt raw, his eyes burned as he watched as the boy slowly getting further and further away. He could do nothing but watch. Nothing but watch as Nights' limp body was cradled carefully in the arms of the warden. He could do nothing. Nothing at all to help Nights as he was taken from them. As he was taken from him. "Nights! Nights please! Please! Danny!" He was choking, broken sobs falling passed his lips as his beating grew weaker and weaker, the strength draining from him while he sunk to the ground, his legs no longer able to hold him up. "Phantom!"

He told Nights that he be okay. He'd told Phantom that he wouldn't let anyone hurt him. That he would keep him safe. And he'd failed. He'd failed the one who'd needed him the most.


	47. Chapter 47

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 47

Consciousness came to him in pieces. First the feeling of air brushing against his skin, cool and creating goosebumps across his exposed flesh. He could feel his other side, pressed up against something cooled and hard, as if he was laying against a marble floor, but he knew that it couldn't have been a floor, there were two arms wrapped around him tightly, holding his body in the air as they moved.

His face twitched as his ears picked out the screaming. There was so much of it. Some of it so far away it was more of a hum, and some of it so close that it sent a strong vibration through his bones. He finally gasped, gagging for air as the sourness of it appeared suddenly, choking him while he struggled to open his eyes.

The first thing he was greeted with was a blinding white, slowly it melted, morphing into the one he'd been avoiding for years. Danny could feel his body tensing, the stiffness of it drawing the others attention down as bright green orbs quickly took in his surroundings.

Shit. Was he already in the prison? When did he get here?

"Glad to see you're awake."

Shoving against the ghost hard Danny was dropped out of his hold and stumbled to his feet. His vision swam, turning the world over and over and he quickly stuck his hand out to grab at the wall, trying to keep on his feet while pressing his hand to his mouth. He felt like he was going to be sick, and his whole body felt weak.

Finally dropping his hand down he gasped for air, wiping the sweat off his forehead and curling in on himself.

"You sick?"

Danny flinched away from the hand that reached out for him, but it didn't stop the man from grabbing a hold of him and forcing his head up.

"What do you want Walker?" He muttered, ignoring the way the man looked him over, his hand pressing against Danny's forehead for a brief moment. "You can't keep me here."

"You're in no shape to fight." Walker said, and Danny hated how right he was. "And I've made some upgrades since the last time I saw you."

Oh great. Well wasn't that just perfect?

Danny could still remember the last time he was here. He could remember the jail cells and the guards rotations, but if Walker had upped everything that he was going to have to take even more time to see just what had changed. If they had all been the same it would have taken him no time at all to break out, he'd grown much stronger since the last time he was here and being part human in the ghost zone did help out quite a bit, but he hated the idea of having to spend anymore time than he had to away from everyone that he...

"Oh god."

A memory came back to him. A flash of the faces of the ones that he cared about. Wounded and terrified and...looking at him.

Just what had he done? Was everyone okay? Were they even still..?

He didn't have any time to prepare himself before he threw up all over the floor.

"Oh god, oh god. No, no, no, no." Sinking to his knees Danny brought his hands up, fist tightly in his hair as tears streamed down his face. "Not again. No, no, no. Please no."

He couldn't have lost them. He couldn't have. They had to still be okay. They had to be. He couldn't...just.

"Get over it kid." Walker grumbled, grabbing a hold of his arm tightly and yanking him back to his feet. "You're better off without them anyways."

(***)

"Danny! Danny!"

Maddie didn't know what to do. She'd never seen her son like this before. He was an absolute mess. He was clawing at the shield that was slowly starting to flicker, tears pouring down his face and a jumble of incoherent words falling passed his lips. She wanted to run over to him, but Valerie was still in her arms whimpering silently in pain.

"Here Maddie, I'll take her."

She bit down on her lip as her eyes moved from her son to Jack. He wasn't looking at her, or anything really, an eerie sort of calm surrounding him as he held his hands out. She couldn't imagine how he was feeling right now. Couldn't imagine how it must have felt to watch as his own son tried to kill him only to save them all at the last second and than be taken away again. She couldn't imagine how much he must have been falling apart inside. She had no idea how he was keeping it together so well.

"Jack it's..."

"Give her to me. Go take care of Hunter."

His words left no room for argument and so she carefully handed the young girl over before she got up and quickly made it over to her son.

"Danny." She muttered, kneeling to his side and placing her hands on his shoulder. "Danny, sweetie, please look at me."

He was in another world. His chest heaving as his hands roughly wiped across his eyes, trying in vain to get the tears to stop, or at the very least to try and hide at least a little bit of their evidence.

"Danny please."

"We have to get Nights back." Danny said, his words weak and shaky as he finally turned to his mother, his sudden recovery catching her a little off guard. "We have to go right now."

It broke her heart to see how red his eyes were, to see how stressed he was, how frightened. That was a look that she never wanted to see across her son's face. She'd always just wanted him to be safe and protected. To be able to handle anything that the world tried to throw at him or knock him down with, and if he couldn't do it alone than she would be right there. But even she didn't have a simple answer for this. Nights had been taken by not just any ghost, but Walker, and Walker had an army, and a high security prison, and it was located deep in the ghost zone. Although she wanted to help, she knew there was only so much that they could do.

But that didn't mean that she wouldn't do everything in her power to bring back her son's happiness.

"We'll get him back sweetie." She said, gently stroking a hand through his hair as he sniffled, going back to rubbing at his eyes. "We will."

There was something that wasn't sitting right with her though, and she knew just what it was.

Carefully wrapping her son up in her arms she turned to Jack.

"Jack, I think your son is being controlled by Vlad."

In the silence that followed her words the shield went down, showing them all just how much damage had been done. Her mouth slipped open as she saw the burned and shattered parts that were left of Jack's home, and the outline that showed just where the shield had protected them. If Nights hadn't thrown up that shield when he did than... Just how on earth were they still here?

"What are you talking about?"

Surprisingly the question came from the little bundle in her arms and not the one she originally addressed. With a long sigh she slowly released her hold on her son and sat back so that she could face everyone.

"After you left Danny I...I did some research on Nights. I broke into Vlad's flies and...I saw everything."

Even just the thought of all that they had put the boy through made her stomach twist and her heart ache. All the things that she had seen, she still had nightmares, she had no idea just how that kid was still so friendly and caring. If that had been her she would have ended up turning her back on the rest of the human population.

As she gave a light shake of her head she tucked those thoughts away. "One of the things that he talked about but never had a chance to try was the Crystal Ball Staff. It's a ghost mind controlling scepter."

"Why would he want to use that?" Jack asked, his voice strangely even as Valerie slowly sat up on her own.

"I don't...he never really mentioned why." Maddie admitted, her brows furrowing as she tried to think of just what use that controlling Nights would be.

If he had the staff and could have used it on any ghost than why didn't he? Surely it would have been much easier than trying to get a hold of just one. Just what did he need Nights for?

"Walker mentioned Sam though, not Vlad." Danny said, pushing himself to his feet and giving another quick wipe to his eyes.

"Well that would make sense." Jack said, getting to his feet and helping Valerie to her's. "Considering just what Walker would do if he ever saw Vlad."

Getting to her feet as well Maddie couldn't stop the feeling of crushing guilt from working its way under her skin. Honestly the more and more they talked about ghost like this the worse and worse she felt. Just how many families had she torn apart? Just how many ghosts had she stolen away the loved ones of? And for what? Research?

"They're probably working together." Valerie mumbled, one hand wrapped around her arm and Maddie couldn't help but flinch at the odd angle it was on.

"I highly doubt Vlad will still be at our house." Danny growled, the pure malice in his voice startling Maddie.

She'd never heard her son so...she couldn't even think of a proper word to describe the rage that was rolling off of him in waves.

"First things first than." Danny said, rolling his shoulders back and crossing his arms over his chest. "We're going back to GRR. Val, you're going straight to the med wing."

"But..."

"No arguing." Danny interrupted, his gaze narrowing at her sharply. "Jack, you fill everyone in on what happened. Maddie,"

She was shocked at the use of her first name, but she didn't say anything on it at the serious look over his face. This wasn't her son, but Danny Fenton, the ghost hunter.

"I want you to go back to your lab and find everything that you have on Walker, his whereabouts and his prison. We'll meet you at your house. I'm going to get a hold of Paulina and find out what happened with Sam. Dose everybody understand?"

Danny didn't wait very much longer after he received a head nod from everyone in return before he marched through the rubble and towards the door.

"Good. Let's go."

(***)

Sam had no idea just where she was. She also had no idea how she managed to get here in the first place and just how Paulina managed to get away with it without anyone asking her any questions. Seriously, how many people just marched people around with bags over their heads? Did people pay attention to nothing these days?

Even after the bag had been ripped off her head she didn't have much to work with. From what she could tell the room they had her placed appeared to be an interrogation room, but she didn't remember Paulina's parents ever having anything to do with the police force.

Sinking even lower into her seat she winched as the cuffs dug sharply into her wrist. Just where had Paulina even gotten all of this stuff from anyways? Could it be that she wasn't at a police station, but some type of ghost hunter place? If so than why hadn't she heard of them before? Wouldn't they have wanted to work with Danny and Maddie?

Giving out a long sigh she dropped her head back, glaring up at the ceiling as she waited for something to happen. Seriously they couldn't keep her here forever. They couldn't even really keep her here at all. It wasn't as if she had done anything wrong. She'd done her job and gotten rid of a ghost. That's what she was supposed to do. Just why they thought all of this was necessary she had no idea.

Her eyes snapped back to the door, the loud screech of the knob being turned drawing her attention like a moth to the flame. She couldn't wait until she could finally have someone to chew out. Until she could finally demand to be release from these cuffs and from this place. They didn't have anything on her and she needed to go check on Danny. Make sure that he was okay.

Any of her worry however washed away, a smile coming to her face as she saw the one she had been thinking about entering with Paulina close on his heels.

"Danny!"

"Shut it Sam."

His tone shocked her. His words even more so as any of the joy she'd felt in his presence was swiftly wiped away. She waited until the two took a seat across from her before she bothered to try and speak again.

"You'll get over it. Don't worry."

She had to let him know at least that much. Sure he was going to miss the ghost at first, and as much as that disgusted her, she could understand that he was going to need some time to wrap his head around this. Once he had some time to clear his head however there was no doubt that he would come back to her, thanking her for all that she'd done for him, even though he sure as hell didn't make it easy.

So for now she could take the heated glares being shot at her and the rage blazing behind their gazes. He would get over it. He would move on and things could go back the the way that they had always been.

"Sam, you were my best friend, and I'm really trying hard not to jump over the table and throttle you right now but," Danny muttered, his eyes dropping from hers to glare at the table, as if continuing to look at her would seriously make him dive for her throat, "I need to know just what you and Vlad had planned. What were you guys going to do to Nights?"

"Ugh." With a roll of her eyes she really wished that they could just get passed this part, but fine, for the grieving process she supposed that she could play along. "We didn't have any plans. I mean Vlad and me were going to team up, but he never told me anything and he kept telling me that I had to wait and you were just sinking further and further into this mess and I had to do something. So I told Vlad I was done with whatever it was and that I would be doing my own thing."

"And he was fine with that?" Paulina asked, arching a finely sharped brow as Sam turned a glare to her.

"Vlad's a creep. Like I would care what he would think. Besides, he doesn't control me."

"But apparently he can control others." Danny growled out, his voice reaching a new level of rage that Sam had never heard before. "Tell me what the plans were Sam."

"I don't know! He never told me anything. Even when I tried to reason with him that we were losing you. He didn't give me anything to work with."

"Sorry if I find that hard to believe."

"Well sorry I'm not some freaky, mistake of a ghost creature that doesn't mind throwing myself at the first hunter who catches my eye." She snarled back.

She didn't even have time to blink as the table between them was suddenly shoved to the side so hard that it smashed against the wall and Danny's hands were wrapped firmly around her throat, her chair tipping back slightly as he got right up in her face.

"You don't talk about him that way! You don't even know him!"

"Danny!" Paulina was quick to react, pulling Danny off of Sam and back to the other side of the small room. "Calm down Danny."

Sam gulped down air greedily as her fingers twitched, her hands wanting to raise up to rub at her injured throat. Her purple eyes were wide as she stared, gawking at her friend. She couldn't believe that he'd just, that he had attacked her. Why couldn't he see that she was trying to help? Why wouldn't he let her help him? Why was he making this so hard?

Tears burned at her eyes as the other two argued with each other. She didn't want to cry here, but unable to rub at her eyes or wipe the tears away she couldn't stop the first few from falling. As soon as she started she couldn't stop. She tried to stiffen her chin, stop it from shaking, but nothing that she could do seemed to help. Sooner rather than later a broken bawl tore from passed her lips, her shoulders shaking as she dropped her head to her chest, not wanting them to see her break down.

She just wanted to help. She just wanted to make sure that Danny was going to be safe, that he wouldn't get hurt. She didn't want to lose him. Yet it seemed that every action she took only pushed him further and further away. She never wanted this. She just, she just wanted to protect him.

When a pair of arms wrapped around her she tried to jerk away. They weren't having it though, holding on to her tightly and pulling her in. She wouldn't lie, she was a little disappointed when she opened her eyes and saw that it was Paulina, not Danny who had run to her aid, but she wasn't shocked by it either.

"Sh Sam. Just breath okay?" Paulina cooed, brushing dark locks out of her eyes and gently rubbing her thumbs against her cheeks to wipe away her tears. "Look," Paulina said softly, running her fingers through Sam's hair soothingly, "I know you hate ghosts, but Phantom, he's not all ghost." Paulina said and the shock alone was enough the make Sam's tears stop.

"What?"

"He's half human." Paulina continued, slowly pulling away from the girl once she saw that she was okay. "You wouldn't hurt a human would you?"

Sam's mouth moved, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Did she really care if Phantom was human? Well, yes. She hunted ghosts to protect humans, the last thing that she would want to have happen would be for one to get hurt because of her. In the same breath though, if what they were saying was true, and she wasn't sure that she believed them, than that would mean that the other half was still ghost, and it was her job to get rid of ghosts.

"He's, its, their still a ghost." Sam pushed out, her gaze narrowing as she gaze a shake of her head. "Ghosts are evil and I have to protect the others."

"Not all of them are your grandfather Sam!" Danny snapped, finally coming back into the conversation as he marched up to them. Before he could get to close Paulina turned on him, not getting in his way but placing a hand to his chest, a subtle warning for him to keep his distance.

"Danny, stay calm. This isn't going to get you anywhere." She muttered, Sam barely able to make the words out from her spot.

"I just want to protect you Danny!" Sam finally snapped, the tear stains on her face drying and pulling slightly as she snarled. "I don't want you to get hurt! I..." She bit her tongue, knowing that she'd already said enough, that she'd already done enough to destroy everything that they had ever had.

"I don't need..." Danny let out a long sigh, and Sam lifted her head just in time to see him dragging his hand down his face. "Sam, I'm in love with Danny Phantom, and he would never hurt me."

Although she'd known it was true the words still hurt to hear. It felt as if someone had just shot her in the chest with an ecto blaster. It felt like that one time she'd got possessed when she'd gone out on her first patrol. And it was the only thing that finally opened her eyes to what was really going on.

She hadn't hated Phantom because he was a ghost. She'd hated him because he was getting so much of Danny's attention. The more that the two hangout, the worse her anger got. When Danny started to change his views, to see the things that he did in a different light, she hadn't been mad because he decided to be more fair in his hunting, it was because he was taking Phantom's side over her's. She wasn't doing this to protect Danny, he was more than capable of keeping himself safe and had proven as much time and time again. She was doing this, all of this, because she wanted to get Phantom out of the way. She wanted Danny all to herself and the only thing that she thought had been stopping her was the ghost that had just shown up out of nowhere.

If she was going to be truly honest to herself, she wasn't even all that much into the ghost hunting anymore. She'd been slowly losing her motivation, slowly questioning just what it was that they were doing and why they even bothered doing it. She'd thought that they were wasting away to much of their time going out and catching ghosts night after night with nothing to really even show for it. She'd always thought that Danny worked to hard, that he was almost at a creepy level of dedication, or maybe a better word would have been obsession, with the hunt. She and Tucker both had to be the ones to drag him away and remind him to live every once and awhile. Before Phantom had shown up she'd been thinking about telling them that she was done.

It was only after he appeared, only after Danny started to get friendlier with him, that she had upped her training, that she was out there every night with Danny once again, that she found a new motivation.

It wasn't to protect Danny, or make sure that he was choosing the right path.

It was so that she could stay by his side.

Shame burned deep in her gut as her eyes dropped to the ground, the feeling eating her whole as Danny shifted back into her line of view.

"Sam, please." He muttered, his voice the softest it had been since he got in here. "We can't find Vlad. When Maddie went home his room was completely wiped out. If you know anything, you have to tell us. Where did he go?"

"I don't know." Before Danny could get angry again she quickly snapped her head up, her eyes wide with nothing but the truth. "I swear that he didn't tell me anything Danny! I got sick of him waiting and I made my own move. He didn't...he wouldn't say a word on what his plan was! But..."

Was she really going to do this? Was she really going to help him find the one who had caused her so much trouble. Taking a glance at the two faces she could feel a pull at her heart.

They were both worried. Worried and terrified and they just wanted their friend back. A friend that Sam had made disappear because she couldn't stand the thought of the one she liked being with someone else.

With a long sigh she closed her eyes, dropping her head back against the chair before she spoke. "Vlad was acting really shady, so...I started to break into his room when he wasn't around. I took pictures of his note books, mail, files, anything I could get my hands on. There might be something that you can find out in it."

"Thank you."

"Wait!" Sam called out, seconds before Danny could reach the door. He stopped and turned back to face her, his lips pressed into a thin line as he waited for her to say her piece. "I, I hope you find him."

(***)

She didn't know what to make of the figure that had been dropped off in her cell. She didn't get visitors, and Walker hadn't put any other prisoner in her cell in what felt like years. How long had it been really since she'd been here? It felt like forever.

Still, she eyed the boy who sat across from her, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around his legs. He hadn't spoken since he'd been in here. Hadn't even given her a glance before he'd sunk to his spot and refused to move. She didn't know what to do, or even what she was supposed to say. She hadn't held a conversation with someone in so long. Really she guessed that she didn't have to say anything, but he just looked so sad. So pathetically sad.

"Hiya."

Her voice cracked and she winced. She hadn't spoken in so long that it actually hurt to do so. Giving a light rub to her throat she floated off her bed and next to his side, close enough that she would be hard to ignore, but far enough away just in case he decided to lash out.

"So um..." she muttered, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as her eyes darted off to the side quickly. "I'm guessing you didn't do anything either huh?"

It was a good try at humor she supposed, she'd never really had anyone to joke with but sometimes she could hear the guards joking around with each other outside of her cell and she always thought she'd like it.

The guy shifted slightly, his head turning to peer at her through his hair. She was shocked at the bright green orbs that stared back at her and couldn't believe just how red they were.

"Just an FYI, crying in prison is like, the worst thing that you could do." She said, forcing a smile to her lips and hoping that it looked friendly. "It's pretty much asking for a beat down."

Although if he was locked in here with her she highly doubted that they were ever going to let him out. She hadn't left this room since she'd been thrown in it.

A tiny laugh, humorless and dead snaked its way passed his tightly curled body as his eyes flashed for a moment.

"They could try."

Oh. Well she hadn't been expecting that response.

"Tough guy eh?" She said, shifting back slightly as he ever so slowly uncurled himself and stretched his legs out before him, resting his head back against the wall.

"No. I'm just...I..." The stranger allowed his words to die off into a sigh, his gaze dazed as he stared across the room to nothing. "I just give up. If the world doesn't want me to be happy than fine."

She arched a brow at that, crossing her legs as she placed her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

"Well, the worlds pretty stupid." She said, not knowing just how to talk to someone about everyday things let alone life.

At the brief smile that flash across his face however she guessed that she must have done something at least a little right.

Offering out her hand she gave him another smile, this one slightly bigger than the first.

"It's nice to meet you. The names Dani. With an 'i'."


	48. Chapter 48

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 48

He'd been thinking it over, and he was almost certain that there was no way that he could have killed them.

Although Danny wasn't sure just how long he'd been stuck down here for, it couldn't possibly have been more than a few hours, he'd been running the things that he could remember over and over again in his head ever since Walker had thrown him into this cell.

Even though most of his memory was blackout, he could still remember coming to. He remembered throwing up a shield and the look on Fenton's face. If Fenton was able to make that face than that must have meant that he was okay. If there was anything left of him after Danny fired that shot than that could only mean that the shot had never actually hit any of them, and that he'd managed to protect them in the nick of time.

That was the only thing that he managed to come up with, the only thing that was going to keep him from breaking down completely. He was okay with never seeing any of them again, as long as they were okay.

"Ya know you look kinda funny."

His eyes glanced up from the floor, looking over at his cellmate as she stared at him upside down from the bed.

"I mean, I haven't seen many other ghosts but the guards since I became one, but the ones I see wandering the halls sometimes...you look nothing like them." She continued, rolling over and placing her head in her hands, her feet kicking up and down behind her. "And you're in here. Walker never puts anyone in here with me."

Danny could feel his lips pressing into a thin line. He wasn't sure that he wanted to tell her just why he seemed different from all the other ghosts she had seen, yet some of her words raised a question in his own mind as he sat back against the wall.

"Why are you in here anyways?" He asked, watching as she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"I don't know." She said, giving an awkward shrug of her shoulders from the position she was in.

"You weren't playing in the wrong area? Or taking human items back into the ghost zone? Or walking to loudly?" Danny pressed while her brows scrunched together.

"Those are things you can be arrested for? Yeash." She muttered as she pushed herself to sit up. "But no, seriously I have no idea why I'm here. All I know is that I woke up in the ghost zone and than Walker came and took me here and this is where I've been ever since."

Danny couldn't help but arch a brow at her words. That didn't make much sense. Even those Walker's rules were dumb and far fetched and all to easy to break, he never threw people into jail without at least doing something. Why would he throw a seemingly harmless girl in here for no reason? And just where was here anyways?

He knew that they were in the prison, obviously, but Walker had walked Danny over to the other side, away from where the rest of the cells were. Just why had she been placed in this one with him? Or really he guess why had he been placed in this cell with her, after all she had been here first.

Pushing himself up on to his feet he took a quick glance around the room again. When he'd first been shoved in here he hadn't taken much time to look around, he'd been to busy in his own mind to really care about what was going on in his surroundings. Seeing it now he could see that there wasn't much to look at. It wasn't that big, maybe just enough to give him and Dani room to stand side by side with their arms out, but that was it. The ceiling was low, he guessed that Walker didn't want them flying around to much, and other than the bed there wasn't much else in the room. He had no idea why she wasn't crazy by now, or how she still seemed to be in sturdy despite not having much physically activity in years. Whoever she was she must have been well taken care of when she was alive.

Looking at her carefully he couldn't help but notice just how young she also appeared to be and his heart broke a little for whoever her parents had been. He always hated to see such young ghosts. It was always a reminder of just how unfair life really was.

There was something else too though, something else that had been bothering him every time that he looked at her. It was as if she was familiar in some sort of way, but he couldn't place his finger on just what it was.

"I'm guessing that we're in some type of high security cell hm?"

"Bingo." She grinned, making a fire gun gesture at him. "I've been trying to break out of this dump for...well, a long time anyways." She muttered offhandedly. "Trust me Nights, there's no way out of here."

Maybe there wasn't a way for a full ghost.

Pressing his hand flat against the wall Danny gently ran his fingers over it.

He'd broken out of here once. He'd shattered the Fenton thermos that had been rumored to be able to hold even the strongest of ghosts. He'd destroyed Vlad's lab prison that had been specially made just for him.

By now people should have thought better about trying to lock him up in a cage.

But maybe it was better this way.

Everyone around him always got hurt. Some even died. If he hadn't been born. If he hadn't placed himself in their lives, they would have been okay. They wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Letting out a long sigh Danny dropped his hand from the wall and brought it up to rub against his eyes. He knew thinking like this wasn't going to get anything done, and that they were probably already trying to find out where he was and how to get him back. The least that he could do was make it a little easier for them. If he could get out than they wouldn't have to come in. Than he could...well, he didn't really know.

Danny gave a shake of his head, darkness seeping into his vision as he turned back to face Dani.

"I might be able to get us out of here." He muttered, his hand raising to rub at his head as he tried to blink the darkness out of his vision.

"Would you be...shit."

He remembered this feeling. This was just like before. This was just like the first time it had happened. Whatever had possessed him back at the house, it was doing so again.

"No, no stop it!"

Don't fight me Danny.

"Get out of my head!"

"Whoa dude."

Danny tried to focus on the other ghost in the room, tried to do anything to help push the hold back. Dani's eyes were wide, floating in what little space she had as if to put more distance between them. Danny didn't blame her. He wouldn't be anywhere close to him right now either if he could help it.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm...I can't...I'm sorry."

(***)

Dani didn't like the sound of that. Just what was he apologizing for? And what was going on with his eyes.

When he screwed them shut she didn't move, preferring to stay as far away form him as she could until whatever was going on had passed. Was this the reason that Walker had thrown Nights in with her? Was there something wrong with him? When she'd said that there was something different about him she hadn't thought that it was something like this.

When he suddenly became quiet, his body relaxing and his arms dropping down to his sides, Dani couldn't help the small spark of dread that weld up in her chest. As his eyes opened, revealing nothing but a solid glow of red, her stomach twisted as she brought her hands up, getting ready for a fight if need be.

She wasn't really sure what to do. She didn't want to call out to him. Didn't want to draw his attention to her if she didn't need to. Although she wasn't really sure what was going on she knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good. If she drew his attention to her than what would be the chances that he would lash out at her, that he would attack her? She didn't doubt her own skills in a fight, but she had no idea just what this guy was capable of, and she didn't like the idea of flying in blind. So instead she decided to wait, to see what he would do and what his next move would be.

When his head snapped around to face her, his empty eyes locking on to her's, she could feel rocks dropping in her stomach but narrowed her own gaze anyways. If this guy wanted to fight than fine. She wasn't going to go down easy.

"If you want me, you're going to have to come get me." She snarled, hiding her fear behind her rage, blocking it off from her mind until it was silent.

Nights, if that even was still him, didn't say anything. When he moved, she flinched, balls of ecto energy spring up in her hands without a second thought. He didn't make a move towards her though, he simply held out his hand, as if he was waiting for her to come down and join him.

"Yaaaa, no thanks."

He blinked, the motion slow and creepy as she pushed herself even closer to the ceiling. There was no way that she was going near that guy. Apparently he picked up on that after a second, turning away from her and towards the door. Curiosity getting the best of her she couldn't help but float down a little lower, wondering just what it was that he was doing. She watched, almost giving a roll of her eyes as he lifted his hands to the door and placed them against the wall, glowing a bright green as they rested against the thick door.

Ya, blast it with ecto energy, because she hadn't tried that one a million times in all the years that she had been here.

"Hey numbskull, it's not going to work. I've already..."

Her words were cut short, rudely interrupted as a sudden scream tore passed the others lips. The wail was so loud that even when she clamped her hands down tightly over her ears she could still hear it as if he was yelling straight at her with a megaphone. With her concentration broken she fell back to the bed, the cry still continuing as a blinding light forced her to screw her eyes shut or go blind. She wasn't even aware that the sound had stopped, her ears were still ringing with it as a hand reached out and grabbed her arm.

Reacting quick she knocked the hand away, shooting back up to fend off her attacker only to see that the door, and most of the wall surrounding it, had been blown away. Even the guards that had been stationed outside her cell were laying in a crumpled heap on the ground, even their tails laid still as the dust started to settle.

Mouth dropping open she could do nothing but stand there and gawk at what had just happened. She'd spent years trying to blast her way out of here, and that guy had done it in a few seconds. Just who on earth was this guy?

As she turned back she could see him still stare at her, as if he was waiting for her to go ahead. Slowly she maneuvered around him, not willing to turn her back on this guy even for a moment.

"Um...thanks." With that as her parting words she ducked out of the cell, finally in the hall for the first time since she'd been in here.

It was than that it hit her. She had no idea what she was doing or even where she was supposed to go. She could hear other guards in the distance, but she had no idea which side they were coming from or how many there were. Taking a glance at the other red eyes ghost she gave out a long sigh, waving her hands out as she gave a small tilt of her head.

"Don't suppose you could get us out of this part too eh?"

He didn't say anything, not that she had really been expecting him to, but he did walk out of the room and started to walk down the hall. Not knowing what else to do she followed him. She had no idea why they were just walking. Why he wasn't bothering to just take off in the air and book it out of here as fast as he could, but he seemed to know where he was going. As the sounds of the guards drew closer however she called up her energy again, her gaze locked ahead as she waited for whatever was going to be waiting for them around the corner.

Nights came to a stop, and she stumbled a little in order to keep herself from running straight into his back. When he took in a deep breath and raised his hands she already knew what was coming. Slapping her hands over her ears again she tried to hunch her shoulders up to block out the scream again. Being closer this time only made it so much worse. It didn't just sound like one voice, it sounded like two mixed together. A heart wrenching cry that was a sharp mix of pain and rage, boiling over and twisting into a fine tipped weapon. It shook her to her core, the feelings washing over her and making her own body ache with the need to hurt something, to tare it apart with her own hands, to destroy whatever was in her way and remove it from existence. The feeling was so strong it made her gasp, shaking her head vigorously to remove the thoughts from her mind as silence surround them once again.

Just what on earth had happened to this guy?

Looking over his shoulder she felt her eyes go wide at the giant hole in the wall he had created, and the sight of the ever swirling ghost zone that laid just beyond it.

"Whoa."

She hadn't seen it in so long, and even back than she could only remember a small glimpse of it. It was beautiful...it was freedom.

"Yes!"

Forgetting her partner in crime for a moment, and the fact that there were guards that were going to be falling on them at any second now, she fly outside and into the open air.

She breathed in deeply, a smile she couldn't stop stretching over her lips as she threw her arms out, her eyes wide and bright as she spun around to take it all in from different angles. She'd been dreaming about this for as long as she could remember. She'd been wishing for the day that she would finally be able to get out and leave the cursed prison behind. Where she could finally be free to go where she wanted and do what she wanted. Where she wouldn't have to live her life in a tiny little box anymore. Where she wouldn't be driving herself insane with the same four walls mocking her over and over again.

She was finally out.

Tears sprung to her eyes, her happiness making her heart feel as if it was about to burst right out of her chest. Quickly wiping them away she turned back to face Nights, still unable to help the smile across her lips.

"Thank you so..."

He was suddenly right before her, his face still blank as he took a hold of her arms tightly enough that it would no doubt leave bruises.

"Ouch! Hey! Stop it!"

He didn't listen to her, and when she started to kick and squirm he simply wrapped her up in his arms, holding her so tightly against his chest that there wasn't anywhere for her to move.

Her moment of happiness was shattered, her dreams of freedom smashed as she felt a shot of ecto from a blaster wipe by her head. With her securely held in one arm Nights than shot an entire wave of energy at the prison, and she watched just over his shoulder as the entire place went up in flames.

"Oh my god."

The guards abandoned the chase, flying back to the building as the screams of the inmates locked inside and the panic weld up inside what was left of the place.

She didn't fight. She didn't say another word. Instead she kept her mouth shut. Deciding to just go with him. There was nothing that she could do. She couldn't fight him, she could see that now. All she could do was allow him to take her wherever it was that he wanted to go. The second that he let her go however she was going to be off like a shot. This guy was dangerous. And the last thing that she wanted was to be stuck with him.


	49. Chapter 49

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 49

"Coco?"

Paulina wasn't really sure why she was the one left in charge of their...well really Sam wasn't their prisoner, but they weren't letting her go just yet so...but either way it didn't matter. She wanted to be out there with the others, helping to track down their friend and bring him back home. Whatever Vlad had planned for him wasn't good, and regardless of what Sam had told her she highly doubted that she hadn't been manipulated by the smooth talking ghost expert in the first place.

And if she couldn't have helped out there than at least hanging out with Valerie would have been way better. Even though Val had been forced to stay at the computer for now and off the field, at least she actually got to do something that was helping.

Yet here Pauling stood. Two mugs of steaming hot chocolate in her hands and a goth girl tucked into the tightest ball she had ever seen.

When Sam lifted her head Paulina gave her a small smile and lifted one of the cups up a little. Even though what Sam had done was beyond incredibility stupid and selfish, at least she seemed to be coming around. As she was now she just looked...absolutely defeated.

Although Paulina couldn't blame her for that. Even she hadn't expected Hunter to lash out at her like he did. She couldn't imagine if that would have happened to her. She couldn't imagine just how shaken she would have been if one of her closes friends had tried to strangle her. It definitely wasn't the guy's finest hour, but Paulina also couldn't hold it against him. After all Sam had pretty much just handed the love of his life over to the worst person ever. No doubt he was stressing out and freaking out to the max. Although after his little outburst he appeared to be holding himself a little bit better together, Paulina just didn't know how long that was going to last.

Walking up to the darkly themed girl she placed her mug down on the table, carefully sliding it over to the other side and making sure that she didn't spill a drop. When she pulled back and took a sip of her own drink, Sam just stared down at her own.

"What's in it?"

Although her question earned her a slight brow arch Sam didn't seem to care as she poked at the cup with little to no interest.

"Um, like, hot chocolate powder and hot water. Oh! And also some chi mix. Just adds a little pop of flavor I find." Paulina admitted with a light shrug of her shoulders and a small smile on her face.

"No I meant...are there any kinds of drugs in this?"

Paulina's eyes went wide and she nearly choked on her drink as she quickly slammed it down on the table and beat against her chest a few times. When she was sure that she wasn't about to drown on a sip of hot chocolate she glanced over at Sam with a small frown.

"That's not the way that we do things. We don't use drugs on people."

Her answer made Sam's shoulders sink even more than they already were. She did however pick up the cup and take a small sip from it. Sitting back in her own seat Paulina raised the cup back to her lips once again, staring at Sam over the rim.

"You know. I use to like ghosts."

The mumble was so quiet that she almost hadn't heard her, but Paulina gave a small hum and Sam continued a little louder.

"I'd always been really close with my grandparents. They were the ones who truly accepted me and didn't make me feel like some sort of freak or failure."

Ya, Paulina could see that. She'd met Sam's parents, and to say that her and her parents were from different worlds would have been a gross understatement.

"When my Grandpa died we were both heart broken, but than he came back, you know, as a ghost, and I couldn't have been happier."

Oh no. She could see where this story was heading.

"We got to spend so much time together again. Just the three of us, and we had so much fun and he was always picking me up and flying me around the town at night. My Grandma was so happy to have him back. It was perfect."

Hearing the break in her voice Paulina leaned over the table and gently placed her hand over Sam's. When she got a light squeeze in return she stayed where she was.

"One day after school, I went to visit them." Sam said, the palm of her hand coming up to wipe against her eyes. "I, I found my Grandmother, torn to pieces with her face twisted in absolute terror. I just froze, I didn't know what else to do and than I saw my Grandfather across the room. His eyes were red and blood was dripping from his hands. I, I tried calling out to him but it was as if he couldn't hear me. When he started to approach me I ran. He chased me, out of the house and down the street. At one point I made it to the park and he finally caught me."

There were tears slowly trailing down Sam's face as she tried to wipe them away, to get rid of them and force herself to finish the story.

"I kept begging him to stop, tried to tell him that it was me, but nothing got through to him. I thought I was going to die and than, well, Danny showed up." A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips at the memory. "He showed up and saved me, and ever since than I've trained hard to be a hunter. I didn't want other people to be hurt by ghosts, but as time went on I just..." At this Sam gave a long sigh, her eyes closing as she gave a light rub at her forehead with her free hand. "Nothing seems to work and everything we do just started to feel...I don't know, pointless."

"That's because you keep going at it the same way." Paulina explained, placing her own mug down and scooting in a little closer. "I mean you guys just do the same thing over and over and over again and you can't expect the out come to be any different. Did you ever even find out what happened to your grandfather?"

With that Sam gave a nod of her head. "Yes. We know that while ghost keep all of their memories after death they slowly start to lose them after a period of time."

"Right." Paulina said, giving her a small smile. "As they start to lose their memories they end up becoming more aggressive. When they realize what's happening they panic. Their brain ends up on fight mode during the last portion of it and if their loved ones are around they more often than not try to kill them."

"Why?"

"They want to keep them with them. See ghost lose their memories for a reason, it's natures way of trying to keep the two worlds separated. You see as many ghosts as you think wander in the human world it's actually less than one percent of the amount that populates the ghost zone. I mean there have been a lot of dead people over the long period of the world. Most ghost stay in the ghost zone because they don't see a point in returning to the human one that they don't remember. There's really nothing for them here." Paulina complained, Sam's eyes locked on her's as she listened with rapid interest. "That being said though, if you were to die right now, you would obviously become a ghost. Now because both you and your Grandfather are ghosts, you would gain back the memories that you had of each other."

"Whoa." Sam said, her forgotten hot chocolate going cold in her hand as she sat back in her chair. "So he just wanted to..."

"Yes." Paulina didn't force the girl to finish her thought, running her thumb over the back of her hand in a soothing manner. "That's actually the reason that Walker started his ghost jail."

Really she didn't know if she should have been telling Sam all of this. But it wasn't the worst thing that she could do. Besides, Sam was just a little misguided. She just didn't understand. And while that didn't make the things that her Grandfather had done in the afterlife any better, hopefully it explained it a little more.

"You see Walker found out what was happening. His jail was originally created to keep recently dead ghosts who still had some of their memories in his care until they were okay to be released into the after life. But than his daughter went missing and he just...snapped I guess. We don't know much of what happened to her until a few years later where she ended up in the hands of..." Okay, maybe this is where she should stop for the day. "Ah, you know what. It doesn't matter." Paulina said, a smile working its way over her face while a confused frown pulled at Sam's. "I am truly sorry for your loss Sam. But please, don't let one horrible experience label ghosts as a whole. They're all so unique and different and many of them are very friendly and loving people. Please just, give them a chance."

Sam let out a small laugh, less cheery and more defeated before she took a small sip of her coco. "You don't think it's already to late for me to switch sides?"

"Well, as long as we find Danny and you apologize to the moon and back I'm sure you would be okay? Maybe? I mean we did take in Hunter, and we thought that he was to much of a lost cause and yet here he is. In our base of operation helping out as best as he can."

Although she would be lying if she were to tell anyone that she had truly welcomed Hunter with open arms. But hey, she did have a reason to be cautious.

"Right."

Sam didn't sound like she believed her, but Paulina couldn't blame her for that. She really had no idea if anyone would be able to accept Sam on their team, or even if her and Hunter ever had a chance at going back to being friends. The only thing that she could really do was wait here with her and see what would end up happening. If Danny got back home alright than maybe, but Val had broken her arm in three places and Jack's home had been completely destroy and his son kidnapped because of her so...

They were just going to have to wait and see.

(***)

Danny scowled as he flipped through some more of the photos that he had gathered from Sam. So far he wasn't getting anything. Vlad had been coding all of his work, even his personal journals. Danny had no idea even which code he'd been using or if it was one that he made up. Some of the words were numbers others a random jumble of letters and odd symbols that he had never seen before. This was just a nightmare, plain and simple.

Even though he saw it as pointless however he forced himself to keep looking, to keep trying to decode whatever it was that Vlad had been writing about that had been so secret that he'd felt the need to overboard code it. If there was anything that could help him find Nights, it was going to have to be in here. They'd already scrubbed the rest of the house from top to bottom and had found nothing. Vlad was just simply gone.

The only thing that he didn't understand was just why Vlad wanted Nights to get caught by Walker. If he had full control of him already, just why did he want him to be caught by the ghost warden? Did he not want Nights for himself? Just what was he getting out of this? If Danny was right about the time that Vlad had nabbed Nights the first time, than what had been the point of letting the boy go? Of allowing him to go back home only so he could be kidnapped? It just didn't make any sense.

"Find anything?"

The voice of Jack gave him a start, his whole body jumping before he wiped his head around to face the man.

"No." He admitted, his spirits sinking deeper at the dark look that overcame Jack's features. "But we will Jack. Don't worry."

Jack gave out a long sigh, dropping into the chair next to him as he thumb through some of the pictures spread out on the table.

"If Vlad does anything to my son..."

"We'll get him back." Danny insisted, his gaze narrowing in determination as Jack's hand held up one of the few pictures of the scepter.

"He better hope that whatever it is he wanted Danny to steal was worth it."

Wait, what?

"I'm sorry?"

Steal? That thought hadn't crossed his mind before. Just why would it cross Jack's?

"What makes you think that he wanted Nights to steal something?" He asked, drawing Jack's gaze away from the photo and back towards him.

"Because he allowed Danny to be caught by Walker, and everyone knows that Walker had a vast amount of items that he holds locked away in his cells, and that Danny is one of the only ghosts strong enough to get rid of any type of security that he may have."

Well, apparently not everyone. Danny had no idea about this information, and he'd worked with Walker quite a few times over the years. He thought that the only thing that he held in his cells was other ghosts, nothing else. Why hadn't his mom told him this? Did she even know about it? Would it not be weird for her not to know about this?

"Listen Jack..."

However Danny didn't get to say anything further as Jazz burst into their house.

"Danny! I heard the news!"

"Jazz?"

He didn't have time to say anything before he was suddenly being wrapped up in her arms, nearly choking on the tight hold that she had on him. He had no time to recover before she suddenly held him out at arms length, looking him up and down quickly before staring him straight in the eyes.

"Are you okay? Mom just contacted me and told me what happened. Sorry I wasn't here sooner. I went on an overnight school thing."

"Wait so, how did you get back?" Danny couldn't help but question as he gently pulled himself out of his sister's hold.

"Oh um..." Jazz gave a small shrug of her shoulders as her eyes darted up and over to the side. "I might have hot wired the teacher's car. But don't worry. They really like me and I'll just tell them that it was for a family emergency."

"Jazz you didn't..."

"Don't be stupid Danny." Jazz muttered, once again interrupting him as she placed both her hands on his cheeks. "I'm going to do everything I can to help you okay?"

Danny could feel his heart swell up at the encouraging words from his sister. Jazz was really way to good for him, and she was always there for him when he needed her. He was going to owe her so many favors after this, but he highly doubted that she would ever cash them in.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Jasmine?"

Finally remembering that there was another person in the room Danny could feel the sudden warm feeling that had enveloped him freeze over. Right. As he had just learned a few hours ago, Jack was Jazz's father. And this would have been the first time that he would have seen her in...god he wondered just how many years. Eight teen at the least.

Jazz seemed a little shocked too, her head wiping around to face the stranger as she straightened up. Her brows were drawn together, her eyes slightly narrowed as she looked the large male up and down, no doubt trying to assess just who he was.

"I'm sorry," she said, dropping her hands from Danny's face. "who are you?"

"Um, Jazz this is Jack Phantom, your..."

"Danny Phantom's father." Jack said, cutting Danny off before he could finish his sentence and let Jazz know just who he really was to her. "It's nice to meet you." He said, a somewhat shaky smile on his lips as he held out his hand.

"Likewise." Jazz said, taking the offered hand. "Don't worry. We'll get your son back for you. In fact I'm sure that you guys are no doubt closing in on his location as we speak."

At her words any thoughts that he had on just what Jack was up to flew from his mind as his full attention snapped to his sister.

"His location? What are you talking about? We have no idea where Vlad is at all?"

"How can that be?" Jazz said, her confusion back as she dug into her jacket pocket for something. "I sent you a text saying that I had placed a tracking device in Vlad's luggage a while back when I thought there was something up with him and Sam. I sent you the coordination and everythin-oh, nope I see what I did wrong. Sorry. I sent the message to Nights. You're both under Danny in my phone." She said, a light blush of embarrassment lighting up her face as she flipped through her phone.

That was right. Nights and Jazz had been in touch with each other a few weeks ago. When Nights had wanted to surprise Danny and set him up a meeting with his sister so that they could hangout together again. He probably gave her his number without even thinking about it.

Snatching the phone out of his sister's hands Danny took a look at the message window she had pulled up. Sure enough, there was all the information that they needed. Or at least the numbers and links that they needed in order to find the tracking device and pinpoint Vlad's location.

"Oh my god thank you Jazz you're the best sister ever!"

She let out a small 'oof' when she was nearly knocked over by the nearly side tackle like hug that he gave her before he snatched her wrist and tugged her towards the lab.

"Come on! We've got to tell Tucker and Mom and everyone else!"

Racing down to the lab he couldn't stop the smile from growing across his face as he barged into the room, presenting the phone before him as if it was the holy grail.

"Mom! Jazz has Vlad's location!" He shouted, startling everyone in the room as Kwan was just about to step out of the Fenton Ghost Sub. "After we get Nights back from Walker we can go and grab Vlad and get him to lift whatever kind of spell he put on can..."

"Hunter." Kwan was quick to be the first one to step up, a worried frown on his face as he finished climbing out of the sub with Dash right behind him. "Nights isn't with Walker anymore."

Only some of Danny's joy was diminished at that, trying to see the next best thing as he gave a wave of the phone in his hand.

"Okay so Vlad's got him. That just makes our job ten times easier. Instead of trying to break him out of Walker's prison, we just go straight after Vlad."

At the looks that the four shared between each other Danny felt all of his lips pull into a frown as he took a turn to look at each of them.

"What?"

"Vlad's got full control of him." Maddie sighed, being the first to speak up as she made a gesture to Tucker, signaling him to get something up on the computer. "Just take a look at this."

Danny watched as the screen started to fill with photo after photo of Walker's prison. Or at least what was left of it. The powerful and unbreakable walls that had kept thousands upon thousands of ghosts locked away, had lost over half of its structure.

"I don't, Nights did this?" Danny said, forcing his gaze from the pictures to stare at his mother. "On his own?"

"Dash and Kwan got there just as he took off. He was carrying something in his arms, it looked like another ghost maybe, but his eyes were glowing bright red. I gave them the order not to give chase." Maddie admitted.

"What!" Jack sounded furious as he marched passed the two Fenton children, storming up to Maddie with absolute fury. "They had my son in their sights and you told them just to back down!? They should have gone after him! They should have at least followed! They could have..!"

"Jack! Get a hold of yourself!" Maddie snapped, her voice so sharp it cut through his rage. "He's not your son right now alright!? Your son wouldn't do something like that on his own would he?" She growled, thrusting her hand to the screen, but keeping her own glare on the much larger male. "Do you really think that Vlad would have allowed him to lead people back to where ever he was going? No. He would have made Danny kill anyone who even bothered to try. Would you really want Nights to be forced to kill someone? To kill him friends? Dash and Kwan are other peoples kids Jack. For gods sake I've met their parents at school functions before. You know how hard it is to lose a child, don't force more parents to go through the same thing."

Silence filled the room. For the longest time, no one said anything. All of the kids shared awkward glance between one another, none of them wanting to be the first to speak up as the two adults in the room continued on with their silent war for dominance.

Danny could see where Jack was coming from. He really could. He'd also felt a flash of anger for a moment when his mother had said that she told them not to follow Nights. He would have been right there, he would have been so close. If Danny himself had been there he would have ignored her orders and gone anyways, despite seeing the after math of just what Nights was capable of when he wasn't holding back. He knew that she was right though. That even if Nights had managed to control himself somewhat the first time, there was no telling just what he would do now. He'd almost killed them before, and Danny wasn't sure that he liked his chances for a second time.

She'd made the right call, calling them back, but he couldn't help but wonder just how much this also hurt Jack. The poor man, knowing that his son had been right there and yet no one had been able to help them.

As the silence continued to stretch on, Jack finally gave a long sigh. That alone seemed to be enough to get everyone else to relax, if only slightly, at least it was something.

"Dash, Kwan I'm, I'm sorry. You two did the right thing, following the order and heading back. Thank you for going out there in the first place."

"Of course." Dash said, Kwan nodding at his side.

"Maddie," Jack turned his attention back to the red head, the look over his face troubled as he gave a small shake of his head. "You made the right call, and I'm sorry if it seemed as if I was questioning your judgment. I...I just..."

"It's alright Jack." Maddie said, walking up to him and gently taking his face in her hands. "We're going to get him back. He's going to be okay."

Carefully making his way passed the two as quietly as they could so as not to disturb his mother as she tried to wane some of Jack's fears away, Danny and Jazz made their way over to Tucker, Kwan and Dash quickly coming up on each side of them.

"Jazz said that she placed a tracking device on Vlad. I need you to figure out just where it is."

Giving a nod of his head Tucker took the phone that was being offered, his fingers flying over the keys as he got to work. Charts and maps flashed over the screen, the photos of what Nights had left behind disappearing as they all watched while a glowing red dot appeared on the monitor. Danny watched, fascinated to see how the map kept zooming in closer and closer, shrinking in on its target while they could do nothing more than wait to see where it showed up. As it continued however Danny couldn't help but notice that it just kept moving. Obviously where ever Vlad was going, he hadn't made it there just yet.

"It's been decided."

All of the kids jumped at the booming voice from behind them. Looking over their shoulders they each took in the adults as both Maddie and Jack stood with their arms crossed firmly over their chests.

"All of you are to remain in the labs. No one other than Maddie and myself will be engaging Danny directly."

"What!" Dash snapped, turning to face them fully as his hands curled into fists at his side. "We've trained for this for years, we do this almost every night. Danny's our friend! We're not just going to leave him!"

"I didn't say that you had to." Jack said, his gaze narrowing sharply at the older teen. Danny could already see where this was going. "You have all been great at catching the ghosts that are around here. Better than great actually, but this is a fight you are not going to win. You're not ready for this."

"Bullshit we're not!" Dash snapped. It was only when he take a step forward that Danny brought his arm up, sharply cutting off his path as he turned a stern eye to the two before him.

"At least let me come with you." Danny said, Dash fuming behind him as Kwan placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to help him calm down. "Other than you two, I've got the most experience when it comes to hunting ghosts. I'm also your best," No one said anything, they all knew it was true, but Dash still grumbled a little under his breath. "I've lasted against Nights before when he was out of control. At the very least I would be able to distract him."

Maddie and Jack said nothing. Maddie's gaze narrowed ever so slightly as she took in her son, her lips pressed into a thin line as her fingers twitched against her arm.

"You're also one of the closet to this situation."

"If you're going by that logic than Jack shouldn't be going either." Danny pointed out, having none of it. They weren't going to get him off of this one that easily. "I'm going. And if you don't let me go with you, than I'll just find another way to get there."

The two shared a look together, Maddie letting out a long sigh as she pinched at the bridge of her nose while she turned back to her son.

"Fine. But my stance is still strong for the rest of you. Danny's my son and I'm allowing him to come with me. I'm not making that choice for any of your parents."

"Understood." Kwan said, slipping in a the seat next to Tucker and turning to the computer. "I'll help Tucker with this. Once we get a location we'll let you guys know."

Dash on the other hand growled, grabbing a hold of Danny's arm and drawing his attention back to the large jock.

"You better bring him back in one piece Fenton. Me and Danny have a romcom movie marathon planned."

Seriously? The thought of Nights wrapped up in blankets and eating popcorn while rapidly paying attention to bad dialog and predictable plots brought a smile to Danny's lips that he quickly covered with his hand.

"Of course Dash." He said, giving the other a soft smile as Dash dropped his arm and gave a nod of his head.

"Good. Now come on. If you're going to be fighting against him you guys are probably going to need some weapons."

"And a plan." Jazz said, pulling out her laptop as she took a seat and flipped it open. "I'm going to look up information on the staff. See if there's anything that we can learn about it."

"That sounds like a great idea. Allow me to help." Jack said, taking a seat beside her as she threw him a quick glance.

"Thanks."

As Danny was lead away he couldn't help but let his eyes flick over to the screen. The dot was still moving, which meant that Vlad still hadn't gotten there yet. But the second that it did stop Vlad better have been prepared.


	50. Chapter 50

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 50

As they rushed around, trying to clean the place up in a frantic mess, they made sure to keep out of his way. Walker paid them little mind, stepping over the rubble that was left of his prison as escaped prisoners screeched while they flew over head, trying to avoid being retaken by the guards. They knew better than to bother him right now, even the escapees that were firing shots at the ones trying to catch them, no one wanted his attention drawn to them as he carefully clasped his hands behind his back.

Taking in a deep breath he rolled his shoulders back, eyeing what little was left of the door that he'd tested himself.

He'd thought for sure that there would be no way for Danny to break out of there. He'd made it specifically for the boy after all. He'd thought that it would have been strong enough to hold him. Just where had he gone wrong? Not only had he lost his grandson, but he'd also lost his most valuable prisoner.

His eyes narrowed, head still tilted towards what was left of the room, but not seeing anything. He'd been searching for Danny for years, and after he finally got a hold of him, the boy had slipped through his fingers in a matter of hours.

That just wouldn't do.

While a part of him hated the fact that he was trying so hard to protect the abomination, it still stood that Danny was his daughter's child, and nothing would change that. He was the only thing that was left of Walker's little girl, and he would rather the world burn than lose what was left of her.

The only problem was now he was back to square one. He had no idea just where Danny had or would go, but he had a strong inkling. After all, now he knew that the boy had made close friends with Fenton. And Walker knew just where to find them.

(***)

Dani wasn't sure just what she had been expecting, but this, this wasn't it.

She'd thought that maybe Nights would have taken her to a deeper part of the ghost zone. She'd thought that maybe he was going to kill her off or offer her to some type of ghost god or something. The last thing that she had thought would be that he would take them into the human world.

She'd never seen the human world before, but she'd heard the stories that guards told each other when they stood outside her cell. Apparently it wasn't a place that a lot of ghost wanted to go, but that most were from. She'd heard them talking about weapons, and people that would hunt them down no matter where they would go. Some nights should would lay in bed shivering, waking up from a nightmare of being hunted and faded. At one point she remembered hearing that even if ghosts somehow mange to find a safe place from the hunters, it was always being disturb by other humans who would walk into their homes as if they owned the place. It was no wonder that most ghosts just avoid this whole realm. It wasn't very ghost friendly.

So just what on earth was Nights thinking on bringing them here?

Even though the question was burning on the tip of her tongue she didn't bother to voice it. Ever since his eyes had turned red Nights hadn't spoken a word. He's simply kept his gaze straight and his hold on her tight. Not that she had tried to move much ever since they had broken out of the prison. The less attention that she could attract to herself the better.

Still, as she looked around the place she stood in now she couldn't help the way that her heart rate sky rocketed. All she could see all around her was monitors, and coils of wires. Containment cubes, dissection tables, bright over head lamps that were twice the size of her head, and everything was just completely white.

It was blinding and a little disorientating, but she didn't want to close her eyes for even a second. This was no doubt a hunter's lair. The last thing that she wanted to do was give them any chance to sneak up on her.

She tried to take in more of the room, tried to figure out just what everything else was that she couldn't name, but they were all so strange looking she couldn't even come up with any type of idea for what they could do.

There weren't any windows, and she couldn't help feel even more trapped than before. Her prison cell didn't have any windows either. But there was a door, and although it looked heavy enough she couldn't help but wonder if maybe she could somehow trick Nights into destroying it.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, the door opened with a loud hiss. She couldn't see anything on the other side, but it looked like nothing more than a black void and she couldn't help the small chill that suddenly seemed to surround her. Nights didn't seem to mind it, but she was starting to think that he could have been stabbed in the throat and would make no reaction.

She couldn't help but swallow down the thickness in her throat at the shadow of a man that appeared in the doorway. When they stepped closer, and more into the light, she only felt her uneasiness grow. He was tall, and thin, but he looked deadly enough and stood with an air of superiority that she'd only seen Walker pull off. His gaze was sharp, and narrowed in on her with all of the focus of a falcon zeroing on its prey. It made her freeze, becoming stalk still, fearing that even just one move would make him lash out at her with all of the horrible things that she had heard of.

For the longest moment, he didn't move. He simply stared at her from across the room, an odd looking staff in his hand with a glowing red orb on the end of it. The same kind of red that Nights eyes were...

Her attention snapped back to him, away from the staff as he made long, quick strides from the door up to her. She didn't get a chance to even attempt to break out of Nights hold before the stranger had her wrapped up in his own arms.

"Oh Dani."

She let out a small squeak in surprise, the grip that he had on her stronger than she would have thought. When he pulled out, his hands moving to cup either side of her face she was shocked to see that his eyes had glossed over with an impressive amount of tears.

"My little girl, I'm so glad that you've come back to me."

She knew that there was a countless amount of things that she could do to get him to back off, or even just to give her more room, but his words left her stunted, rendering any thought of escape down to nothing.

What on earth was this guy talking about?

"Um, I hate to break it to you mister but I think you've got the wrong person." She muttered, only earning herself a creepily giddy smile as he let her go and stood back up straight.

"Nonsense my girl." The stranger said, patting her head gently before trapping her in his arms again.

It was almost as if her couldn't help himself, as if he needed to be able to feel her. As if he needed to be able to make sure that she was really here and that he wasn't just seeing things.

"I've been planning this day for so many, many years." He said, pulling back again but keeping one arm around her shoulder as he lead her deeper into the room that Nights had brought her into. "Ever since you got your sickness. The doctors said that they couldn't do anything but you know I've never been one to give up just because scenic says it's impossible." He chuckled, leaving her feeling even more confused than before.

Just what on earth was he going on about?

"They just weren't looking at the right thing." He continued, waving the staff in his free hand around carelessly before he spun them both around to face the way that she and Nights had entered. "But I found it." He said, a smile stretching over his face that made her stomach drop. "I just had to look a little harder."

Whatever he was implying must have had something to do with Nights, but she couldn't for the afterlife of her think of what it could be. Nights wasn't giving her anything to work with either. He just stood there, like some sort of lifeless doll that was waiting to be wound up and set loose.

"Of course nothing ever works the way that you want it to though." He sighed, spinning her back around and continuing their walk towards...wherever. "But that's fine. I'm nothing if not a patient man."

Okay, she was official done with this.

Shoving her elbow against his chest she put a fair distance of space between them. Glaring up at him she refused to take another step and firmly planted her feet.

"Alright weirdo, I have no idea who you are or what you're even talking about, but I'm done." She muttered, going intangible through his hold and flying a few feet in the air. "So...what ever weirdo ghost thing you've got going on, I'm not going to be any part of it."

His smile slowly came back, a soft chuckle slipping passed his lips as if what she had said had been highly amusing. But she didn't remember telling any jokes and she had no problem showing him just how serious she was.

"Just as feisty as I remember." He said in a long sigh, his gaze and mind appearing to drift away for a moment before they snapped back to her. "Dani I know you don't understand but this is all for you."

"You're right. I don't understand." She grumbled, her eyes darting around the room for a moment before she raised a hand to the ceiling.

She hadn't been able to go through the walls at Walker's prison, she highly doubted that she would be able to go through the walls of a hunters lab, and she didn't want to test that theory by running into it face first. When her fingers pressed against the roof firmly, spreading out rather than going through she sighed and dropped her gaze back down.

"Okay weirdo," she said, lowering herself just a little bit, "here's what's going to happen. You're going to let me out of here and than..."

"I can assure you right now that I will let you go eventually." He said, not appearing at all fazed by her growing anger as he continued to look at her fondly, and honestly was there nothing that she could do to make this guy mad. "But first I have to fix you."

"I don't need to be fixed." She snarled, crossing her arms firmly over her chest.

"But my dear of course you do. You're dead after all, but I can fix that, bring back your memories of me and make everything that way that it was." He continued, as her brows drew together while her mind tried to remember anything about this guy.

She had no idea who he was or who he could be. Just what on earth was he talking about?

"We know each other?" She couldn't help but be drawn slightly closer to him. She'd been on her own for so long that the idea that there had been someone out there who knew who she was and had been looking for her warmed her heart just a little.

He nodded his head, being careful not to spook her as she moved a little closer.

"Yes, of course we do." He said, a small smile warming up the look in his eyes as he stared down at her. "My name is Vlad Masters, but you called me Dad."


	51. Chapter 51

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 51

Danny growled, grinding the tracking device underneath his boot as if it had purposely caused every bad thing in his life. Well that had been a waste of time, and he couldn't believe that they had fallen for it. Throwing away the empty suitcase he didn't find it in himself to care as if exploded into large chunks, startling the other people inside the lost and found when it hit the wall.

A few people glared at him, the rest quickly ducking their gaze as he passed by, his face contorted into a fury of blind rage that kept anyone from approaching him and calling him out on his actions.

How had none of them seen this happening? Vlad wasn't an idiot, and Jazz wasn't very good at being sneaky. Obviously he'd known about the tracker and had purposely mislead them. Now they had wasted hours going the wrong way and they weren't anywhere close to finding out just where he'd really taken Nights.

As he steped out of the train station he let out a long sigh, trying to clear his head a little while he made his way over to his mother's van. He wasn't going to be able to focus properly if his thoughts were clouded by anger. When they'd shown up at the station, they'd barely taken an overall glance at it before Maddie said there could be no way that Vlad would be in there. So while Jack scouted the outside and Maddie searched the inside, Danny got to look for the location that had still been appearing on the screen.

He could already see his Mom grumbling into her phone from where he stood, and Jack hunched over a small device in his hands while he tried to look up this and that to see if there was any way that he could pin point Vlad. Although Danny highly doubted that they were going to find anything he really hoped that they did.

There was very little that was keeping him together. Every second that ticked by felt like a second to long and the more time he spent away from Nights the more he wanted to break everything down until he did. The idea of Nights being alone out there with Vlad made his stomach twist and his heart hammer so hard in his chest it felt like it was trying to break out passed his rib cage to go and find Nights itself.

Admittedly he didn't know what to do anymore. He highly doubted that he ever did, but every move felt wrong and every failure felt like he was personally laying Nights out on the examination table. He could just see Nights, alone and terrified, calling out for help but here they were. Maybe a million miles away not doing anything at all to save him.

His feet shuffled to a stop, his hand coming up to rub at his eyes as he tried to clear his head again, tried to push all of the negative thoughts away and focus on nothing but cold hard facts.

What if he wasn't looking at this the right way? What if he really was to close to this like Maddie and Jack had been implying? What if they were all to close?

Nights meant something to each of them. Was it their personal connection to him that was making them useless? Was it making them act without much thought? They weren't doing this the right way at all. They were trying to find Vlad by finding Vlad. They should have been trying to find Vlad by finding Phantom.

Sure. Vlad had lead them astray, alright, but he couldn't hide everything, especially not when Tucker was an amazing hacker. If Vlad had been planning on taking Phantom than he was going to need somewhere to keep him. He would need special technology to contain him and make sure that he wouldn't be able to go anywhere. He would need an area with space, or something that wouldn't draw a lot of attention, and all of those things needed one thing. Money. And money always left a trail.

If they could find out about any pieces of land that Vlad was buying, if they could figure out just what he was spending his money on and if it was being shipped to his home or if he was having it sent straight to his new lab, than they would have him.

A feeling of hope burned in Danny's chest, but he quickly put it out as he continued his march to the RV. This plan wasn't solid by any means, but it was something, and he wasn't going to allow himself to be blinded again. He was going to keep his head on straight until they found Nights and kicked Vlad's ass.

When he ripped the side door open, both adults jumped, not expecting him to appear so suddenly and both having been so absorbed in their own conversations that they missed his walk up to them.

"I've got a new idea."

He didn't elaborate any further as he jumped into the vehicle and slammed the door shut. Not wasting any time he fished his phone out of his pocket and speed dialed the one he knew would be best for the job.

"Tucker here, talk to me."

"Tuck, I need you to dig into Vlad's finance." Danny said, not missing a beat as he signaled for his Mom to start the car. "I think that we may be able to track Vlad down if we can find out where he's built his lab. Look for anything that could be used for equipment or any lots of land or real estate. Send me any information you find."

"Got it."

The line went dead seconds after, and Danny quickly hung up as he turned back to the two in the front.

"There's no point in us staying here, lets head back and regroup. We can see if Jazz has discovered anything and help Tucker with the information. Vlad's always been a big spender, no doubt there's a lot of stuff to go through."

Jack stared at him for a moment, his eyes glancing over at Maddie before they moved back to the boy again.

"You know Hunter, I'm glad that the one my son's attached himself to is you."

The out-of-the-blue complement made Danny's face burn as he ducked his head and wondered just what he should say in response. Honestly what was he supposed to say to that? That he was glad too? To thank Jack for his apparent blessing or approval? Really nothing felt right and the suddenness of it through him more than a little off guard.

Jack didn't seem to interested in his response however, turning back to the road as he typed in their address and gave Maddie the directions.

Not having anything better to do Danny turned his gaze out the window, allowing his thoughts to drift off while he wondered just what was going on with Nights right now.

God, he hoped that he was safe.

Letting out a long sigh he leaned forward, rubbing at his eyes with the palm of his hands before he placed his elbows on his knees and tried to get as close to the two adults in the van. He couldn't let his mind wander right now. It was only going in one place and just like he'd figured out before he really needed to shut his mind off from that if he wanted to be able to help as much as possible. He needed to talk about something, anything. He needed to keep his mind off of straying and freaking out and slipping into full blown panic.

"So Jack," he mumbled, running his hand through his hair as he tried to figure out just what he wanted to ask the man, if there was anything he wanted to ask him at all. "Nights said that you guys use to move around a lot." Oh great, why not remind them all some more about his missing son? "Um...any place you liked in particular?"

From over his shoulder Jack tossed the boy a single raised brow, a moment later and he shrugged, apparently finding nothing better he could be doing than to go a long with it.

"No, not really. I always knew that we would end up back in Amity Park eventually." He admitted, and Danny didn't miss the look that his mother tossed at him. "I was just waiting for GRR to get up and running."

"Than why move so much? Didn't you get tired of that over the years? If you knew you were going to move back why not go to some place like the Bahamas and just hangout there until it was ready?"

"Danny, you know it's not really any of our business." Maddie said, and although he knew that it was true, he could also see just how interested in the answer she was.

"I don't mind Maddie." Jack said, turning in his seat slightly to better be able to see Danny. "But I should let you know that Danny hates beaches. He's never really been one for warm climates."

Well, Danny would keep that in mind than. Their honeymoon would not take place in Hawaii.

"The constant moving was a hiding technique. You see with Danny being both human and ghost, he has both of their energy levels." Jack explained. "Humans have their own type of spiritual energy, when they die so does that living energy, what they get back is the ghost energy, or ecto energy. Ghosts are always attracted to energy, and Danny's energy levels are off the charts. They don't seem to notice that he's what they're drawing to and neither does he, but the amount of ghosts that show up when we get to a new place is staggering. The more ghosts there are, the more hunters end up showing up. So I just had us keep moving until GRR was ready. Once they were they had no problem taking care of the ghosts that were showing up."

Now that he mentioned it, Danny could remember at the beginning of the school year it felt like there had been an unnaturally high amount of ghost activity. That was the whole reason that him and his mom had come up with the ghost tracker. After awhile though the problem seemed to die down. Danny had always thought that it was a combination of him chasing them off and Nights sending them somewhere safer, but it would make sense if it had actually been the GRR team behind the scenes.

Just how much did he really know about what was going on in his town?

"I didn't tell Danny this though. He'd feel like it was his fault that we had to keep moving and he would end up feeling worse. Like he could have changed it somehow or as if it made him weaker." Jack sighed, and Danny knew just what he was talking about.

He opened his mouth, to assure Jack, to apologize, to say anything really, but he was cut off by the sharp ring of his phone. Sitting back in his seat he struggled with it for a moment before he finally got it out of his pocket. Eyeing the screen quickly he saw Tucker's name flashing in bright red letters. Well, that had been faster than he'd thought it would be.

"Tucker, glad to hear from you, did you..."

"Why hello Danny."

Oh. That wasn't Tucker.

"Walker?" His voice came out in a low hiss, the name attracting the other two in the car as his free hand tightly gripped the cushion of his seat. "What the hell do you want?"

Not only had Walker attacked Paulina and Sam, he'd broken Val's arm, destroyed Jack's home, and worst of all, kidnapped Nights. Just what was he doing calling them right now?

"I assume the same thing that you do." Walker said, his voice still remaining it's soothing like quality even as Danny could hear gun shots going off in the background. "I'm guessing that you are already aware that Danny is no longer in my custody."

Danny didn't say anything. Walker already knew the answer. There was no reason to validate his point.

"I propose a truce."

"Ya, I don't think so."

"Danny, what's he saying?"

Waving away his mother's hand as she tried to snatch his phone he shifted in his seat so that he was further away from her.

"I'm not helping you lock him up in a cage Walker."

"Well," the noise in the background suddenly went silent, and Danny found himself hoping that it was because Walker had somehow managed to get away from everyone and not for a worse outcome. "You see that's you're problem right now isn't it? You see he can either be in my cages, or on some hunter's dissection table."

"Well, I choose neither of those things." Danny snapped, banishing the very idea from his head as he could feel his fingers twitching on their hold. "We're going to be the ones to get him back and so help me god if you do anything to hurt him..."

"I would never." Walker growled, his voice as sharp as a knife and cutting through the hunter's words as if they were nothing more than wet tissue paper. "He is the last living line that I have and I am going to make sure that nothing ever happens to him."

...Oh...well...Danny wasn't to sure on what to say to that.

For as long as he could remember Walker had always been nothing more than a cold, unfeeling, hard ass who lived to make the afterlives of those around him hell. The only time Danny had ever seen him smile was when he was dishing out a life sentence to some poor soul that he and Maddie had turned in. The idea that he had once had a family, that he'd ever had a daughter, had never once crossed his mind. Not even after he spent months with Nights learning that ghosts were more than just a nuisance that needed to be stopped. Not even after he'd been taught that they had a life both before and after death. Those thoughts had never transferred over to Walker. Honestly the man just reminded him of some type of brick wall that wouldn't budge.

The idea that he was Nights grandfather was a little hard to wrap his head around. They were so vastly different, and looked nothing alike. Although maybe that part wasn't to surprising, Walker had most of his face ripped off after all and the best he could manage was a stretch of skin over his skull, still, in a way Danny could see why he would want to lock the boy away. It was the only for sure way that he was going to be able to make sure that Nights was going to be okay. The only way that he would know that the boy was going to be safe twenty four hours a day. Walker would be able to check on him at any point in time and he would be able to have a peace of mind knowing that Nights was somewhere where no one would be able to hurt him.

But he didn't know Nights if he thought that the boy was just going to take this laying down. And he didn't know Danny either if he thought that he was just going to stand by and let this happen. For as much as he could understand wanting to protect the ones that you loved by keeping them locked away, he also knew that, that was no way to solve and problem.

Nights had to be free. He had to be able to live a normal life and the ones around him had to let him do his own thing. Being locked up, regardless if it was for his own safety or not, would end up killing the halfa.

"Walker listen," He wasn't dealing with a crazy ghost that was trying to catch Nights for some stupid rule breaking. He was a grieving grandfather who'd lost his only daughter to a hunter who had than taken his grandson. Getting angry and arguing with Walker wasn't going to solve anything, it would only end up making things much worse. "here's what I'm going to be willing to do. I will let you help us find Nights, hell, you can even visit him after if you'd like, but you will not be taking him back to the ghost zone with you."

"I'd like to see you try and..."

"Think of your daughter Walker." Danny warned, his voice raising to be heard over the other. "Would she really want you to keep her son locked up?"

"I allowed her to much freedom." Walker snapped, a small cracking noise drifting over the call to let Danny know just how tight his hold had become on Tucker's phone. "And look what happened. She's faded."

"She didn't have what we have now Walker. We've got a team. There are countless people looking for Nights."

"And yet you haven't found him and you allowed him to be taken."

"He was taken by you." Danny growled. "And he would have never allowed himself to be taken if it hadn't been for that stupid staff."

"What?"

The shock in the others voice was clear enough even with Danny being able to see his face. With a sigh Danny rubbed at his forehead, closing his eyes as he wondered just how much Walker knew or had figured out before he went barging into their house.

"Walker, Nights wouldn't have gone with you. He wouldn't have fought against us, if he was in his right mind. Do you even know who has him right now?" He wasn't really expecting an answer, so he didn't allow the silence to drag on for to long before he answered his own question. "Vlad has your grandson Walker. He's controlling him with a scepter that was made to control..."

"You don't think I don't know what it does!? Or what it is!?"

Oh boy. Walker sounded way more pissed than Danny thought he'd be.

"That son of a..."

"Danny give me that." Maddie managed to rip the cell away from her son, and the van lurched over to the side before she straightened herself back out. Grabbing a hold of the wheel again she scowled at the open road while Danny made a move to snatch his phone back. Jack was surprisingly quick however and kept the boy seated with one thick hand.

"Walker, it would appear that we have a mutual enemy."

Although he couldn't make out the words that were being said he could still hear the other yelling from the other side. He had no idea just how his mom could still keep the device to her ear when he was being that loud but he found the thought being lost as he tried to listen in to what was being said.

"Yes, well, that is unfortunately where we stand. If you want to help your grandson, your best option would be to help us. Nights is in our care now, and may I remind you that any ghost in our care is not to be touched by you."

...

"If you feel so inclined than please try, but know that if you do we will be coming for you, and we will not stop."

Yikes, the tone his mother was taking was even creeping out Danny, he never wanted to be one the end of that glare that he could see through the windows reflection either, and he was sure it was something Walker would be grateful he couldn't see.

"I've given you your choices, now give me your answer."

The only sound inside the RV was of the fans as they pushed warm air around to each of them. Even on the other side of the line Danny couldn't hear a thing. It was as if Walker was seriously taking into consideration about just what they might do if he tried to take Nights. He probably hadn't expected them to go after Nights the first time, he probably thought that they hadn't cared.

Danny could feel hope rising in his chest as a slow smile made its way over his mother's lips.

"I'm glad to have you on the team."

Unable to help himself, Danny gave a small fist pump into the air, only earning himself a glance from Jack.

"Now if you wouldn't mind waiting outside the house until we show up to explain the situation to the rest of the team that would be great. We should be back in an hour or two tops...Great, see you than, good bye."

"Nice work Mom." Danny grinned, quickly snatching his phone back as she passed it over to him.

"I know, this is why you should have handed the phone over to me the first time. It would have been dealt with a whole lot quicker." She said, the playful smile on her lips keeping the jab from stabbing him to deeply.

With a small roll of his eyes Danny sat back in his seat, turning his gaze once again out the window.

So now they had the GRR team, and Walker. He was certain that they were going to zero in on the location at any time and than they would be able to get there and save Nights. He just hoped that the halfa would be able to wait for them that long.


	52. Chapter 52

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 52

"Did I seriously do that?"

Dani was surprised that her face hurt so much. She'd never smiled this much before, she'd never had a reason to, but she found that she couldn't stop. When she'd first heard him say that he was her Dad, she hadn't really believed him.

A small part of her had really wanted to, but with how long she'd been locked up and the treatment she received from others she was a little iffy to jump at the chance. Vlad...or Father she supposed, had been patient, allowing her to keep her distance as he walked over to one of his desks and pulled out what had appeared to be some sort of picture book. When he started to go through it, talking about this memory and that with such a fond look over his face she couldn't help but be drawn in.

Eventually she found herself sitting right next to him, looking at the colorful, captured moments of a past she didn't remember but wished she could. It was still fun to hear the stories though, it was still fun to have him explain just why he was covered from head to toe in pink icing and why she was standing in the back ground with what appeared to be some sort of water gun, cackling in laughter.

She would give up anything to remember these times. She would do anything to be able to get back all of the memories that she had forgotten. To actually know that she had been someone. That someone had cared for her. It was such a contrast to the way she had been living life up until this point, it was just so hard to wrap her head around.

"Yes, you did." Vlad chuckled, the sound soothing as he turned to the next page.

Taking her eyes away from the man Dani turned her attention back to the book. The next series of pictures brought a frown to her face however as her brows furrowed together. In these pictures, her and Vlad were still smiling, but it was more strained, the looks in their eyes far from joyful as he stood with a bunch of balloons while she laid in what appeared to be some sort of hospital bed. All of the pictures on the page were like this, and as she went from top to bottom, side to side, she could see the living version of herself slowly getting worse.

Without asking she flipped to the next page, and the page after that and the page after that. Eventually the book ended with at least a quarter of the sheets left to fill, showing a single picture of Dani, eyes closed, laying in the same bed with all sorts of tubes and what not on her person.

Pulling her hand away Dani found that she couldn't turn away from the evidence of just how ill she had been, about what had probably killed her.

"What happened?"

Vlad took in a deep breath, his hand coming up to trace over the outside of the picture as his other arm came up and wrapped around her shoulders.

"You weren't stable." He muttered, his voice sounding so much more raw than it had just a moment ago. "I...I tried my best but there must have been something that I was missing because it just...your body kept shutting down and after awhile you just...stopped waking up."

Finally taring her eyes away from the book she turned to look at him. His whole face was carefully controlled, his eyes, although glossed over, were looking into a whole other world.

"I knew that there was something that I could do to save you though." He continued, his eyes blinking rapidly for a moment before he got to his feet.

Shocked by the sudden change Dani felt herself following with no prompting what so ever, hovering just inches behind her father as he walked to one of the pods in the lab. The one that he'd sent Nights to seconds before they had turned to the book.

"The solution to our problem lies in this creature."

Arching a brow at the title that he'd given to Nights she took a quick glance at him. Vlad was smiling, his lips stretched from one side of his face to the other while his eyes appeared as though a fire had lit up in them. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason she found it to be just a little...off putting.

"Oh." She said, turning her gaze back to the red glow of Nights' own eyes. "How so? I mean Nights is strong and everything but I don't think he can bring back the dead or anything. And I think somethings wrong with him." She said, tapping on the glass for a moment to see if she could get some sort of reaction. "I mean he didn't act like this at all when we were back in the prison." She explained, not getting so much as a blink from the other.

"Ah, that would be my doing." Vlad said nonchalantly. "Trust me, it's nearly impossible to get it to do anything without being able to control it completely."

"What?" Her eyes snapped back to her father, than took a quick glance around the room to see if she could find the staff he'd been carrying around with him earlier. "You're controlling him? Against his will? Why would you..."

"Oh my dear." Vlad interrupted, turning to face her and placing his hands on either side of her cheeks. "This is all to bring you back. Some sacrifices have to be made. Don't worry my child."

"Sacrifices?" Dani didn't like that word at all, and ever so slowly backed away from the man. "Just what do you need Nights for anyways?"

"His life force."

The words felt like a straight hit to her gut. Murder. He was talking about out right murdering Nights in order to bring her back. She couldn't be apart of that. She'd spoken to this guy. Sure they'd only known each other for a few hours, but Nights had been the first ghost in years to hold a conversation with her. To actually talk to her. And her Dad was controlling him and was going to force him to give up his life force? All just to bring her back? How was that even going to work? Nights was a ghost just like her. What kind of life force could they even get?

"No." Dani said, her head shaking along with her words as she floated back. "No. I can't..I won't let you force him to fade. That's not right."

"Dani, Dani." Vlad cooed, taking a step towards her as she continued backing up. "It's alright dear. He shouldn't even exist anyways. We're just helping nature get ride of its freaks."

"Freaks?" The more he spoke the more she couldn't help but pull further and further away. "I'm a ghost, just like he is. Do you think I'm a freak too?"

"No, no, Dani it's not..."

"Why can't we just stay like this?" She suddenly asked, hope filling her chest as her arms curled around her. "Why can't we just continue on from..?"

"I don't want a ghost as a daughter!" Vlad snapped, his hand wiping out and grabbing a hold of her upper arm, yanking her down to his level. "A constant reminder of how much I failed to protect you? Of how much I failed to create you?"

"You're hurting me!"

"Don't worry Dani. I'm going to fix you. I'm going to bring you back." He continued as if she hadn't spoken, as if she wasn't trying to rip herself away from his grip.

Finally having enough she just went through him. Flying once more to the ceiling and slamming her fist against the unyielding surface.

"Let me out of here!"

"Dani please calm down."

"No!" She snapped, turning to face him, her gaze narrowed sharply as she watched him walk across the floor. "This is crazy! You're crazy! Let me out!"

"You know I was really hoping that it wasn't going to come to this." Vlad sighed, his steps slow as he placed his hands behind his back. "But I don't mind waiting just a little bit longer. I supposed I always knew you were going to put up a fight."

Watching him carefully it took her a little longer than she would have liked to admit to realize just what he was walking towards. Panic filled her as she choked on a scream before she dove for the staff.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Life Looks Better Upside Down

"What are you three doing here?"

He really hadn't meant for his words to come out as sharp as they did, but considering that the whole thing had started because of her he was sure no one really blamed him. In fact, while his words might have been a little sharp, it had nothing on some of the glares being directed at the one girl.

"Um..."

Sam didn't get a chance to say much however as Paulina came forward, hand on hip and gaze sharp.

"Like, it could never hurt to have more people to help right?"

Danny quirked a brow at her before his gaze moved to Val, his scowl only growing more intense as he took in the cast that her arm was in.

"Val you should be resting."

"I'm fine."

But she didn't sound like it, and her eyes were a little glazed over, no doubt from what ever pain medication they had put her on. With a shake of his head and a long sigh Danny turned his attention back to the girl leading the way.

"If you're going to help than you can help Dash set up the weapons. Val you help Tucker and Jazz with tracking. And Sam..." turning to his maybe ex best friend Danny pursed his lips together, his gaze narrowing slightly as he wondered if maybe there was another motive of her's for being here. Had Paulina just dragged her along or had it been Sam's idea for them all to come here in the first place?

Shaking the thought from his head he ran his hand through his hair while he wondered just what he could trust her with...

"You just...Go sit over there or something."

"Danny." While the other two started to headed towards the places that they had been assigned, Sam instead chose to walk up to Danny rather than towards the place he told her. "I can help, really."

Danny ignored her, starting towards his mother in order to give her the go ahead to allow Walker to enter.

"Danny." When she reached out, placing her hand on his shoulder he was quick to spin around and knock it away.

"What?" The question left his lips in a snarl, his eyes blazing with rage that had her drawing back in order to avoid being burned. She hesitated for a moment, and Danny really didn't have anymore time to waste, but just before he was about to turn around she finally opened her mouth again.

"Look, I'm sorry okay?" She said, her arms coming up to wrap around her stomach as her shoulders curled inwards. "What I did was wrong and I shouldn't have done it and if I could take it back I would."

"So you're just going to throw ever cliche line in the book at me?" He growled, watching as she flinched from his words.

"I want to help." She said earning a sharp glare from the blue eyed teen.

"You've helped enough."

"Now who's throwing cliches around?" Sam demanded, her own glare coming out strong as she rolled her shoulders back. "Look, I know you don't have to forgive me or anything, and you probably never will, but I need to help. It's my fault that Nights is in trouble. I want to help get him out."

"Pretty quick change of heart." Danny muttered, trying to think of anything else that she could be doing this for. Her own piece of mind made sense but Sam had never cared about what happened to ghosts before, so why was she suddenly willing to help now?

"Please just let me help."

Taking in a deep breath Danny looked at her a little closer. He really wanted to. He wanted to be able to trust her enough that he wasn't going to worry about if she would be trying to mislead them, or wonder if she was still working with Vlad after all but...

"I'm sorry Sam."

Her whole face sunk as what those words really meant hit her full force.

"Now please, go over there and just...stay out of the way."

It hurt him more than he'd like to admit having to tell her that. It hurt to watch as tears gathered in her eyes as she turned quickly to hide them from him. They had been friends for so long, they had known everything about each other at one point and always had each others backs. He'd never thought once that they would ever end up like this, but he supposed that's just how things were. She'd placed Nights in danger for something as petty as a crush, and he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to forgive that.

Taking in another deep breath to collect himself Danny turned and headed back towards his original destination. As he walked up to his mother he couldn't help but notice Jack's gaze. A heated glare aimed directly at Sam. With the ways that his arms were pretty much locked across his chest Danny guessed that it was taking everything in the man not to just cross the room and throttle the girl. Danny wasn't even sure if he would try to stop him, she'd messed with the guy's son after all. She'd put him in danger. She'd handed him over to someone who'd already had Nights before and had killed his mother. If Danny hadn't known Sam for years than he was sure that he wouldn't have been able to hold himself back as well as the man was.

"We ready to bring in Walker?" He asked, keeping careful to keep the words under his breath as he finished his walk to his mother's side.

Maddie gave a single nod of her head, stepping passed her son and clearing her throat to draw the attention of the ones in the room.

"Everybody I need you to listen up." She said, all eyes turning to her as she spoke. "While we were out we received a call from Walker."

"So that's where my phone went." Danny could hear Tucker mumble under his breath.

"We have decided to make a collected effort. To work with Walker and use his skills to our advantage when we go up against Vlad."

Her words were met with a strange mixture of outrage, confusion, and shock. It seemed that everyone had a different opinion on the matter, and none of them were very good.

"Are you crazy! Walker's the one who took Nights in the first place!" Dash said, his brows narrowing sharply over his eyes.

"Isn't this just the perfect set up for a double cross? What if he's just trying to get Nights back and he's using us to do it?" Kwan wondered, his shoulders curled inwards as his eyes darted this way and that.

"That vampire reject is the reason that we're like in this mess." Paulina put in, her arms crossing over her chest as her eyes moved over to Sam before snapping back to Maddie.

"He destroyed Nights home to steal him. Who's saying he won't do worse now?" Val questioned, her eyes still a little distant but obviously struggling to form the proper words under such heavy medication.

The only ones who remained silent after their initial outburst of shock was Tucker and Jazz. They both knew better than to question Maddie. After all she was Jazz's mom and Tucker had worked with her for years. They had no reason to believe that this wasn't the best course of action.

"Guys, we all know that there's no way that we can take on Nights, and knowing that he's going to be control by Vlad that's what we'll have to do." Danny said, stepping up next to his mother's side as they all fell into silence again. "Walker just wants to make sure that his grandson is safe. If we can get Walker to distract Nights than it should give us enough time to be able to get the staff away from Vlad. Jazz," Turning to his sister he watched the way that she straightened out at the call of her name, "did you manage to find anything on the staff? How do we get it to stop once it's in our possession?"

"From what I can tell," she said, flipping through a few different papers that were sitting next to her, "just going the old fashion way, smashing the orb, should break any hold that Vlad might have on him. Nothing else will really work. Other than that it's only if Vlad himself wishes for the staff to release its control on Nights that will make it stop."

"And we all know that's not happening." Danny muttered, before giving a small nod to his mother.

"I am going to contact Walker now." Maddie said, pulling out her phone and getting ready to speed dial Tucker's number. "When he gets here I don't want anyone to threaten him in any way nor do I want to hear any one accusing him. We have to work together on this. If anyone wants to butt heads with him later when this is all over than be my guest, but not until than. Understood?"

They were slow at first, their gazes turning over to look at Jack who was their real leader. Danny couldn't say that he could blame them though. Maddie had been their enemy for so long. There was no doubt that they were wondering if this was all some giant trap or set up. He supposed it would make sense. Get GRR out of the way at the same time as Nights while pretending to help out, but he knew his mother better than that. She wasn't much for going behind peoples backs. She was very upfront. If she wanted to take on the GRR organization she would let them know it.

Jack didn't think twice about it though. With a simple nod of his head he gave his own hunters the go ahead to follow after another. They all visibly relaxed, each of them turning back to Maddie and giving a nod in return.

Maddie didn't bother saying anything else after that, bringing her phone out and speed dialing Tucker's phone without waiting for anyone to second guess themselves. Danny on the other hand could feel his fingers tapping against his thigh, his patience already stretched thin while he chewed on his bottom lip.

All of this time it felt like they were wasting was no doubt putting Nights in more and more danger. He didn't even want to know what it was that Vlad wanted to use the boy for, but knowing Vlad it couldn't have been anything good.

Ugh...

He'd tried shutting off his mind. He'd tried to separate himself from this as much as possible, but it didn't seem to matter how hard he tried, it never worked for long. If they didn't end up finding Nights soon his mother was going to have to turn him over to the psych ward.

"You called?"

Everyone gave a startled yelp at the sudden appearance of the ghost warden, none of them having expected his presence so soon. Although Danny supposed that made sense, Maddie had told him to just wait around and if he was just as worried about Nights as the rest of them were than he probably hadn't wanted to go to far.

Being the first one to recover Jack took center stage, walking up to Walker with a new set of determination that Danny hadn't seen in him in the last few hours.

"Walker." He greeted, catching the ghost's attention as his narrow eyes zeroed in on the man. "Thank you for joining us."

"I would rather not drag this out any longer than I have to Jack." Walker all but growled, his gaze alone enough to warn the darker haired male to ease up in his approach. "Let's just find out where Vlad went and get my grandson back before he does anything stupid."

"We haven't found him yet." Danny put in, drawing in both of their attention away from each other and to him. "We're still looking, but I'm sure we'll find a place soon."

"No doubt sooner than you think."

The tone of Jazz's voice made everyone turn to her, wondering just what she was so happy about as a smile broke out over her face.

"Think I just found where Vlad's put up his new base."

Wasting no time Danny quickly ran over, only to be shoved aside by Jack and Walker as the two full grown males plowed right by him. Had it been anyone else Danny would have had something to say about their actions, but he wasn't about to get in the way of a father ghost hunter or a grandfather ghost warden. Nope. Besides, they would all be heading to this place together regardless of who saw the information first.

"See look." Jazz said, pointing at something on the screen while Danny moved around the outskirts of the large group and came up on her side. "It seems that for the passed two years he's been sending everything up to a place called Berkerson State. He brought a plot of land out there about four years ago. It's in a forest area, completely surrounded by woods and cut off from anyone else."

"Sounds like just the right place to go if you're trying to stay under the radar." Danny muttered to himself, pulling up and rolling his shoulders back. "What are the coordinates Jazz?"

(***)

"Hey Nights. Nightssssss. Night!"

Dani scowled at the floating form of the other in the tube next to hers. It seemed to be that no matter what she did, nothing would get his attention. Growling in frustration she slammed her fist against the glass again. She had no idea just what it was made of, but it didn't seem to matter how much she tried to smash through it, it always held strong. They had to get out of here though. They had to be gone before Vlad came back or else this wasn't going to end well for either of them.

Sure, Dani had been excited over the idea of having a family, having a father that cared for her, but she didn't want to live if it meant that someone else was going to die. Well, she guessed in Nights' case fade but it was along the same thing.

For the billionth time her eyes darted around the room, hoping to find something that would be able to get them out of this mess, but there was nothing. Vlad had done well to make sure that there was no way that they would be able to get their hands on anything that could have been helpful if they ever managed to get out of the tubes first.

Blowing a lock of hair out of her face Dani glared at the lab before turning her attention back to the ghost at hand. It looked like Nights was going to be there only ticket out of here. She'd seen what he'd done to Walker's place in just a few mere minutes, she had no idea just what he would be able to do this place. It wasn't going to matter however if she couldn't get him to snap out of it.

"Nights you ectoplasmic bucket head!" She snapped, her fists banging against the sides once more. "Snap out of it!"

Ever so slowly, Nights made the first move he had in over the last two hours. His head eerily turned, the rest of his body twitching with the movement as unblinking red orbs locked on her. Sufficiently creeped out Dani drew back a little. For once she was actually somewhat happy that he was locked away from her. She did not like this anti Nights at all. Still, she had his attention now and that's what she had been hoping for.

"Great to have you back with me weirdo." She mumbled, hoping to keep it light before she pointed to the locks on her tube. "Think you can blat these like you did at Walker's?"

Nights just continued to stare at her for another long moment. Slowly his gaze shifted away from her, his face forward once more while she let her shoulders drop with a huff.

"Right." She muttered, turning her glare away from him and moving it back to the front of her own little cage. "Guess I'll just try and figure this out than."

There was no way that she had a lot of time left either. Vlad had said that he was just stepping out and she wasn't expecting him to be gone much longer. It looked as if she was just going to have to get them out of here herself.


	54. Chapter 54

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 54

"Let us out of here!"

Vlad could only chuckle at his daughter with a small shake of his head. It was nice to see that even after so many years she still hadn't changed much. That she was still so passionate. That she still had that fire that he loved so much. She was so much like Maddie that way.

"In just a little bit sweetheart." He cooed, tightening the last coil in the outlet of 44's tube. "Soon you'll be back to normal and I'll let you out. Than we can live happily as a family again."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Dani snapped while Vlad pushed against his knees while he got to his feet. "This isn't right! You can't just kill this guy! He didn't do anything wrong!"

Humming along with her Vlad made his way back over to his main computer, typing in just a few more things. All he had to do now was wait for it to finish charging and...

"If you do this I'll just kill myself!"

She had his full attention now. His head snapping up and his eyes narrowing in a glare so sharp it could have cut through steel. The look over her face was enough to tell him that the words had shocked even her, but it was soon replaced with a burning glare of her own as she rolled her shoulders back, refusing to back down.

"This guy, there's something special about him right? Something that you can't get from anyone else?" She said, her tongue darting out to lick at her dry lips before she could press forward again. "If you try and force him to give up his life, I'll end mine at the soonest possible second."

Stepping out from behind his computer Vlad slowly made his way back to her, his hands clasped tightly behind his back in order to hide the amount of shaking they were doing.

"My dear, don't say such crazy things." He said, the smile over his lips so forced that it actually hurt to hold. "You're just a little stressed right now. Once I get you back to normal..."

"This guy has people who care about him doesn't he?" She interrupt. "And you're just going to tare him away from them aren't you? You don't even care." She hissed, her words loaded with a acid venom. "I know you don't care that other ghosts somewhere out there are missing him, but I do, and I won't have anything to do with keeping him apart from them or taking him away."

"You don't understand Dani," Vlad continued as he raised one of his hands to press against the warm glass of her cage. A frown flashed over his face for a moment when she pulled back, but he was quick to cover it up before he continued. "This...boy, he's not meant to be here. He's some type of genetic mistake that should have..."

"I don't care." Dani snapped, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. "If you want to go through with this so bad than just know that you'll be losing two energy forms today, not just o..."

"Shut up!"

Slamming his fist against the base of the tube a crack rung out through the lab. Staring down at where his hand laid against the metal he quickly jerked his hand back when he saw that the blow had caused a small crack. His lips twisted into a snarl before he schooled his features back into their neutral state.

Smiling up at the stunned face of his baby girl he pressed his hands against the glass once more, a trail of blood slowly slipping from his hand and rolling down the otherwise spotless surface.

"Now Dani, don't be stupid sweetie. You know I only want what's best for you. If you feel that way I will simply have to keep you locked up for a longer amount of time to make sure that you don't cause any harm to yourself. Now you don't want that do you?"

She appeared frozen, unable to speak or move as he nailed her in place with his gaze alone. A lazy smile stretched over his lips, a warm feeling welding up in his chest at the thought that soon, soon it would be over and they would be together and she would finally be happy.

Taking her silence as answer enough he turned his back to her, making his way once more to his computer and positively grinning at the sight of the fully charged bar.

"Now, this will only sting a bit, but no for long I swear."

His finger was an inch away from the enter key when an ear piercing screech rang throughout his lab. Flashing red lights lit up the room in a strobe like pattern while video feed popped up on his monitors.

He growled, the sound nothing close to human, at the sight of a few hunters he would have rather forgotten and a ghost warden who was no doubt going to be out for his blood.

There was no way that he could beat them all on his own. He was out numbered even if the fight was going to take place in his home. There were only so many tricks that he could pull before they would end up descending on him. Thankfully however he didn't have to worry about overpowering them, or even really outsmarting them. He had a much better idea.

"Dani my dear it seems that we will have to wait to have our lovely reunion. I'm going to need to borrow 44 for a little play date first."

(***)

"You have got to be kidding me!" Danny snapped, wanting to be furious but having little time to truly chew the girl out.

"Danny you could use my help." Sam said as she crawled out of the trunk, being careful to stay out of Danny's way as he snatched up a few more items.

Cursing lowly to himself he snapped the trunk shut with a little more force than was truly necessary. She winced at the loud crack that emitted from the action but she still trailed after him as he rounded the van and walked up to his other teammates.

"We've got a tag along." He muttered, tossing a ecto gun over to his mother and handing Walker a fishing rod with ecto laced wire.

"Samantha?" Maddie said, her eyes going wide in shock while Jack glared down at the girl.

"What are you doing here? Don't you think you've already done enough?" The low growl in his voice made the raven haired girl shuffle back, not wanting to get within arms reach of him.

"I-I thought I could help. You guys could use all the hunters you have right?"

"No." Maddie said as her wide gaze narrowed in on the girl. "I specifically told everyone that they couldn't come because I'm not sure how well this will all go. If anything happens to you than what am I supposed to tell your parents?"

"Just say that I overdosed on something, they'll believe it." She mumbled under her breath while Maddie let out a long sigh.

"Since you're already here I guess we could use you."

"What!?" Jack snapped. "Are you serious? For all we know she could be in on it with Vlad!"

"Well so could Walker!" Sam snarled back, pointing a finger towards the ghost who only shot her a quick glare in response. "Vlad wanted to work with him!"

"I can assure you that I would never work with that man." Walker cut in, his lips twisting into a snarl. "He is responsible for the death of my daughter after all."

"What?"

This news seemed to honestly shock Sam, and Danny couldn't help but wonder just how much she thought she knew that she was starting to realize that she didn't.

"But, But Vlad said that he was going to get in contact with you. That we needed your help to...I couldn't stand waiting for him to make his move so I decided that I would reach out to you instead."

Finally it was all clicking in place for Danny. Ever since he'd found out that Vlad was working with Sam he couldn't for the life of him figure out why the guy would ever want to team up with her. It's not that Sam was bad at her job by any means, in fact she was one of the best, but Vlad had never been one for sharing the spotlight, ideas, or methods of attack with others. Even when they had all been on the same page the relationship that they two had between each other was pretty much nonexistent. He'd thought that maybe they had just been teaming up in order to gain the advantage on their mutual enemy, but it still struck him as odd.

Now he finally understood it. Vlad needed Sam to be the one to talk to Walker. He needed to give her the idea that Walker was the only one who would be able to help them. If Walker had known that Vlad was in on any type of plan he would have shot it down right away, he might have even gone after the man, but instead they had all been played by him.

The only thing he couldn't figure out now was why.

If he already had Nights under his control via staff, than just why did he need him to be taken by Walker if he was only going to break him out of the prison hours later? Just what was his game?

"Guys we don't have any time for this." Danny muttered, cutting into the argument before it could get any more heated. "Honestly we could use all the help we can get. Sam if you're on our side I need to know now."

Piercing blue crystals burned into her as she turned her full attention towards him. The two stared each other down for a moment, neither of them wanting to be the first to cave in as he waited impatiently for her to make up her mind. Sure she'd told him that she was on his side, but she was going to have to realize that being on his side meant that she was now going to have to protect the ones that she hated, that she was going to have to change her whole way of thinking about things and her out look on life. Her answer wasn't going to be a simple yes or no with the ability to take it back once everything was finished, but it was going to spin her world, tilt it upside down and give it a vicious shake. If she was willing to help them now, help them save the person that she hated the most, than they might be able to crawl their way back to the bond that they had before everything had gone to hell.

Her eyes narrowed, her head giving a solid nod while her lips pressed thin in determination.

"I'm with you."

A smile tugged at the corner of Danny's lips as he tossed her over an ecto blaster.

"Glad to have you."

Turning back to the others he watched as Jack scowled, but didn't comment on anything as he instead turned his attention to his own weapon, making sure it was in well working order.

"Okay, so are we sticking to the plan?" He asked as Maddie looked over the two and than back to the blue prints in her hands.

"Actually, I want to change a few things now that Sam's here." She admitted, passing the map of the lab over to her son. "I want you and Sam to go this way. You'll take that tunnel to the vent systems, you should be able to drop right into his lab from there. Everyone else will stick to the original plan, but this way we'll have more of an element of surprise and you'll be able to grab Nights much faster."

Eyes quickly scanning over the map Danny handed it back over once he had it memorized.

"Alright. We'll meet up in the talked about location in twenty minutes."

"Good." Maddie said.

Just as Danny went to turn away however she trapped him in her arms, holding him close as he gasped for breath at the tight hold she had him in.

"Be careful Danny."

"I'll be okay Mom." He assured her, quickly hugging her back before he pulled away. Turning to the girl at his side he gave her a quick nod to follow and took off.


	55. Chapter 55

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 55

If there was one thing that he would have to say that he hated, it would be vents. He'd never really been a big fan of fitting himself into small space, and even less of a fan of having to crawl around on his stomach for prolonged periods of time. If there was enough room to crawl in here than he wouldn't have minded it so much, but sadly as it was he could barely even lift his elbows up next to his sides.

He'd heard his Mom infiltrate the area a few minutes ago, it was kind of hard to displace the sound of their ecto blasters after all, but even though they had done their best to sneak up on the place, it appeared that Vlad had been ready for them. The building was shuttering with blows, and Danny tried not to think about just what, or more likely, who, Vlad was using.

"Hey," Sam called out in a whisper behind him, "if Vlad's got Nights with him right now, then why are we bothering to head to the lab at all?"

"You don't know that he's using Nights against everyone else." Danny muttered, both of them having to still when the building shook again.

"I might not be some kind of genius," Sam mumbled once they'd stated back up again. "But there's no way that Vlad has a weapon that's that strong. That has to be Nights."

She was probably right. In which case he couldn't help but worry about everyone else. There was no way that they were going to directly attack Nights, but in the state, he was in right now he wasn't going to be offering them the same curtesy.

"Vlad probably wouldn't take the staff with him." He said, feeling a source of relief wash through him at the sight of the end of the vent. "There's to many chances for it to be broken and if he loses control of Nights than he loses everything."

"And you think that he's going to leave it in his lab?" Sam asked as Danny reached the end.

"Well, it would be the most secure place."

"Two teenagers can get to it through a vent. I wouldn't say it's that secure." Sam muttered, the truth in her words making Danny wince.

Deciding to turn his attention away from the conversation and to the task at hand he placed his hands against the vent cover. When he shoved at it the first time it didn't budge. No doubt it was screwed in from the other side. With a sigh he awkwardly maneuvered himself until he was able to reach into his pocket. Shimmying himself again he got his arms back up, pointing the small object at the outline of the vent.

Pressing it against the edges he flipped the switch, watching as the end lit up a bright green that melted the metal. Once he'd gotten all around it he quickly pushed it out before it could cool. As he waited for the edge to cool he took in the sight of the room, wincing at the loud bang that echoed throughout. He would have been more concerned about the noise if it wasn't for the fact that everything happening outside the lab was ten times louder. He highly doubted that anyone else heard it.

"Who's there?"

Well, except for that oddly young sounding female voice...

Peering out through the vent Danny was shocked at what he saw. Sitting in a large tube just across from him was a little girl. A little ghost girl. They stared at each other for a moment, blue locking with green as he tried to figure out just what it was that Vlad wanted with her. How long had she been here? What was with the identical looking tube that was connected to hers? Just what was Vlad planning up here?

"Danny, do we have trouble?" Sam asked from behind him, unable to see what he could.

"I... don't know."

Carefully pulling himself the rest of the way through the small space he flipped to the ground, landing in a crouch position before he moved out of the way to allow Sam to do the same thing. Once they were both on the same level they each took a moment to look at the girl.

"Who are you guys?"

She didn't seem too afraid of them, in fact if anything Danny would almost have to say that she seemed a little bit, hopeful.

"We're looking for someone." Danny said, taking a glance around to see if he could find the staff anywhere.

"Are you looking for Nights?"

Her words caught both of their attention, drawing them closer to her cage as Danny arched a brow at her.

"Yes. We're here for Nights." He admitted, finding it odd how she let out a long sigh.

"Oh, thank god." She mumbled before snapping her attention back up. "You have to let me out of here! I can help you!"

"Ya, like we're going to fall for that." Sam grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and shifting her weight over to one foot.

"No really! Vlad's nuts! He's the one who has control over Nights! You should have seen what he had him do to the prison!"

"Wait." Danny mumbled, waving his hand at her for her to stop before he took a step forward. "You were in Walker's prison?"

"Ya." She said with a quick nod of her head. "For the last few years I've been locked away in a specially made prison cell, then he threw Nights in there with me. We managed to talk for a little bit until his eyes went red and he broke us out and brought us here."

Sharing a look with the purple eyed girl to his side Danny could feel some more of the pieces clicking into place. Turning back to the small ghost girl locked in the tube he couldn't help but ask one more question.

"Just what does Vlad want you for?"

Her face fell, her arms falling by her sides as she backed away from the glass.

"I'm his daughter, and he wants to bring me back to life."

"What!?"

Danny was to stunned to join in Sam's exclamation. He was frozen in place. He heard the words, but his mind was having a hard time processing them properly. The only thing he could do was try and break it down.

Vlad had a daughter? Since when? She was the one that Walker had? Why did Walker have her? How did she die? Why hadn't Danny heard anything about her? Why hadn't anyone? How was Vlad going to bring her back using Nights? Was that even possible? Was that what he'd been working on for all those years he'd had Nights and his mother locked away?

"He wants to bring you back?" He eventually pushed out, taking a step closer while she backed up as far as she could. "What happened to you?"

At his question her brows furrowed, her head giving a small shake while her arms came up to wrapped around herself.

"I don't really know. He said that I got sick, that my body shut down. He's got a picture book, but it's all just pictures of us."

Although Danny was tempted to go looking for it, he highly doubted that it would give him much more evidence than she was now. If it had any important information Vlad wouldn't keep it laying around.

"How is he going to bring you back using Nights?" He asked, taking a quick glance between the two containers again, his gaze lingering on the tubes and wires that attached them. "What is all of this stuff?"

"Hey I'm no scientist." She scoffed as she raised her hands in the air. "All I know is that he wants to give me Nights' energy, but if he does that than he'll end up fading."

"Son of a..."

"You don't want this to happen?" Sam interrupted and earned herself a shake of the head from the younger girl.

"No. The guy's nuts. Besides, Nights doesn't deserve this. He seems like a good guy and from the sounds of it there are people out there who care about him."

"That would be me." Danny put in, his words shaper and leaving more of a bite than he intended. "Or, us I guess." He couldn't forget that this wasn't just affecting him, but everyone. They were all suffering too.

"You know, you kind of look like him." She said, eyeing him up and down for a moment before narrowing her gaze. "Weird."

"You really think that you can help us?" Danny asked, ignoring the look that Sam gave him.

"Danny she's his daughter, and we know next to nothing about her." She stage whispered, her words still being caught by the ghost.

"We don't have much of a choice. We all know that we stand no chance, but Vlad's not going to hurt his own daughter if he's worked this hard to get her here. She could really be a huge help." Danny replied, not taking his eyes off the white haired female across from him. "If I let you out, will you promise that you'll help us?"

"Seriously? You're going to take her word for it?" Sam scoffed.

Giving a hard roll of his eyes Danny turned a sharp smile to his teammate as he raised both of his brows.

"In case you haven't noticed, the staff isn't here, which mean Vlad either has it hidden somewhere of has it on him. Unless you have a better idea, this is what we've got to work with."

When she had nothing to say in turn he turned back to the girl behind the glass.

"What do you say? Are you in?"

"Hell ya." She grinned. "Can't wait to take that crazy fruitloop down a notch."

Without waiting for any more confirmation Danny looked down at the panel of her cage, seeing that there wasn't any type of scanner or keypad he moved back over to the computer.

"Okay, I'm thinking you and Sam can go looking for the staff. You can go through walls so it shouldn't take you to long to find it if Vlad has hidden it somewhere."

"What if he's got it on him though? Then you'll be short two people." Sam put in, joining him at his side. "We'll all go with you to fight Vlad, and if he doesn't have it than we'll go looking for it."

"Fair enough." Danny mumbled, clicking down on the unlocking button once he'd found it.

With a sharp hiss the glass panel slid away and the girl carefully stepped out. She took a moment to look around her before she flew over to them and placed her hands on her hips.

"Alrighty you two, lead the way."

(***)

Jack wasn't sure just how much more of this they would be able to take. Everyone was holding back, no one wanting to hurt the boy that was relentlessly going after them, but they wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer.

He couldn't even recognize his own son in the empty void that was the being before him. He'd known about how strong Danny was, or at least he thought that he had, but this...he'd never seen this amount of energy coming from his boy before, and so endlessly.

Ducking back around a corner he barely managed to avoid the blast that was sent at him. He had to bring up his arm to cover his face when it sent sharp debri into the air, large pieces of the wooden flooring shooting up and showering over him.

"Maddie!" He called out, having lost her earlier in the chaos of smoke and rubble.

"Here!" She called out somewhere to his right, seconds before a blast echoed around them again.

Well, at least she was still alive, he was going to count that for something. It was now left in her hands to finish setting up the bombs around the rest of the area.

Peering around the corner again Jack was a little relived to see that Walker was distracting Danny, keeping the boy's focus on him for the moment as they battled hand to hand. Squinting into the thick cloud of smoke that had started to build up he finally managed to spot Vlad.

He could feel his rage slowly building up, the years of hell that, that man put him through, the years of hell he'd forced his family through. It was all coming to a point, a finely crafted point that Jack hoped to shove deep into his chest. No one deserved what he'd put them through. And today was going to be the day that Jack was going to make Vlad pay for it.

With his son distracted Jack slowly stepped out from behind the corner. Sticking close to the wall in order to avoid falling into the potholes that now littered the floor Jack made his way over to the man. Vlad didn't even seem to notice him, at least not until he reached the bottom of the stairs. They just stood there for a few minutes, Vlad looking down at him and Jack looking up at the monster who'd tormented his son for so long.

As he started to climb the stairs a wicked grin that was all teeth spread over Vlad's lips.

"Ah, Jack. Like what I've done with your boy?"

Jack didn't say anything, his gaze narrowing instead as he continued.

"He's gotten so big since the last time I saw him, and so much stronger." Vlad continued, moving his gaze away from the man as he turned it upwards to watch the two spirits fight. "You really must thank me. Without my doing he would have no idea just what he was capable of."

"I warned you to stay away from my family Vlad." Jack hissed, coming closer and closer to the top with every step. "I warned you about what would happen to you if you came after him again."

Vlad turned his sharp blue gaze over to the man, taring them away from the fight that was overhead as he chuckled at Jack's words.

"Your family has been known to make empty threats. Lyida use to tell me countless times a day that she would kill me, and look how that turned out."

Jack screamed, lunging forward without thinking, his hands outstretched to strangle the man before him. Vlad was quick though, ducking under his reach and sending an elbow into his solar plexus. Jack gasped, thrown off balance as he stumbled for a moment, having to collect himself and gasp for air.

When he turned back to face the man, Vlad's guard was already up, the twisted grin over his lips showing just how much he was looking forward to this fight.

If Jack wanted to beat Vlad, he wasn't going to be able to allow the man to blind him with his anger.

Shifting his weight to the balls of his feet Jack glared back at the man with a burning loathing that would have put most fires to shame.

(***)

"Vlad doesn't have it on him." Danny hissed, the two girls crouched on either side of him while they all peered out from between the banister across from the two males.

"Figures." the ghost muttered.

"Alright so plan b?" Sam asked, shifting back as Danny gave a nod of his head.

"Did you get any chance to look at the map at all?"

"A little." She admitted, "when Maddie handed it over to you I looked it over."

"Good." He mumbled, turning his attention back forward to continue watching the fight. "She doesn't know the layout of the house. I want you to tell her the most likely places for the staff to be hidden. If you can't find it in any of those places than just start top to bottom."

"Will you guys make it that long?" Sam asked.

Her words were followed seconds later by a ear piercing blast that was strong enough to knock them all off their feet.

Coughing out the dust in his lungs Danny pushed himself back onto his knees, waving a hand in the air to try and get rid of some of the smoke.

"Don't know. Try and move quickly."

Without waiting to give the girls another word he leapt over the banister, charging straight at Vlad's back as the man got ready to land a blow on the back of Jack's head with a loose piece of wood. Jumping into the air he landed both of his feet straight into Vlad's back, sending the man sprawling forward and flying over Jack. Helping the older man to his feet Jack honestly appeared shocked to see him.

"Hunter! What are you doing here? Where's the staff?" Jack asked, while Danny looked around to see if he could find Nights.

Oh, there he was, just pulling himself out of a body shaped crater. And prefect, he looked pissed. Well this was going well.

"It wasn't in Vlad's lab, I sent Sam and a ghost girl we found to go look for it."

"WHAT!"

The sudden shout drew his attention back to the one he kicked, giving him only seconds to duck under the wooden pole second before it could slam into his face.

Vlad stood there, his shoulders heaving and his face red with rage as he glared at the two of them.

"You release Dani!?"

"Um..." Taking a quick glance over his shoulder Danny could clearly see that Nights was in the midst of another round with Walker. Turning back, he gave an arched brow to the man in front of him. "No, that would have been you."

"No, not that Danny you incompetent oaf!" Vlad snapped, drawing closer as Danny and Jack got ready to fight against him. "I'm talking about my daughter Dani! Do you have any idea how long it took for me to get her back!?"

Both of them had been so drawn to his approach, to the mad look in his eyes, that neither of them had seen him pull out his own gun until it was too late. He fired at Jack first, the large man going down quicker than Danny could blink. Before he could run to the aid of his partner Vlad was suddenly upon him. Danny let out a choked gasp as a giant hand wrapped around his throat, calloused fingers scratching along the soft flesh as he tightened his grip. The touch of the freshly fired gun burned against his temple as it was pressed in place, but even so it had nothing on the feeling of rage that pierced into his skin from the intense rage pooling out of blue eyes.

"All I wanted was a family, a child that I could call my own with the woman that I loved. You think it wouldn't have been that hard, but then he came into the picture."

Jack let out a sharp hiss when Vlad gave him a sharp kick, leaving the man to curl up on his side to protect his bleeding wound.

"Your mother just had to fall in love with his bumbling ways, didn't she?"

Wait? Vlad was in love with his mom? Since when? Ever since he could remember he'd always just been a family friend.

Danny winched as the nose of the gun was tapped heavily against the side of his head while Vlad clicked his tongue.

"Even after he left and she finally turned to me for comfort, she didn't want me to have anything to do with you."

"What?" Danny's voice was quiet, and chocked, barely able to make it out with the hold on his throat, but the look over his face filled in the rest of what he couldn't say.

A wicked smirk turned the corner of Vlad's lips as he leaned in, tilting the gun just so and burring it against the boy's skull.

"Yes Danial. Say hello to your father."

Danny could only gasp as he was shoved backwards. With the lack of oxygen to his brain his whole world spun, his feet getting caught up together and sending him sprawling backwards as he crashed to the ground. He yelped, a broken railing breaking through his skin and creating a jagged gash down his arm before he managed to pull himself away from it. Reaching out for anything he pulled himself up with what was left of the banister, the stairs just a little over to his side as he warily eyed the long way down the marble steps.

His mind was still swimming with the information, with the fact that this man...no, this monster before him couldn't possibly be his father. Baring his teeth as Vlad drew closer Danny decided that he didn't care. Vlad might have been his biological father, he might have been an important part of Danny's life for years, but none of that mattered now. Now he was nothing, nothing but a pathetic excuse of a man who had lost his grip with reality.

"So, what?" Danny spat out, unable to help rubbing his throat to try and sooth the ache. "You couldn't have me as your son so you created a daughter?"

"A clone!" Vlad boasted, throwing his hands out as his grin stretched across his face. "Like you in every way, only you know, a girl."

While Danny was listening as the man spoke, his eyes couldn't help but dart around, watching both the gun as it was waved around carelessly and Jack as he slowly pushed himself on to his feet.

"And she was perfect. My perfect little Dani." Vlad continued, his face falling for a moment and his eyes becoming far and unfocused. Before Danny could even wonder if he could make his move to try and snatch the weapon Vlad snapped out of it, training his gun back on the boy while Danny pressed his lips into a thin line. "But you know how clones are, they're unstable and they don't have a record of lasting very long. But I found the thing that would save her. All I needed to do was figure out how I could get it. The living and dead energy that would help to stabilize her. But then that fiend blew up my lab and she died." Vlad hissed sharply marching up to the boy as Danny's eyes quickly darted behind him once again.

Jack was on his feet now, blood flowing freely through the lower part of his ribcage on the right side of his body. Shit, he was losing a lot of blood. If they didn't get him tied off soon he might even bleed out.

When his eyes darted back to Vlad he got ready. He might not stand much of a chance against a gun, but he'd been shot at plenty of times before from other ghosts. He could do this.

"You know that she doesn't like you right?" He muttered, watching as Vlad's steps faltered for a moment. "I'm pretty sure she might even hate you."

"You..." Vlad said, his eyes going wide before they narrowed sharply. "You spoke to her?"

"Better than that actually." Danny smirked, shifting his body to get ready to dodge the bullet. "We let her out after she agreed to help us stop you."

The scream that tore from Vlad's lips moments later startled Danny. It didn't even sound human.

He seemed to forget that he had a gun as well, choosing to charge at Danny rather than just shoot him. Danny got ready for it though, managing to grab a hold of both of the older male's wrist, keeping in mind about the gun and to keep it pointed away from himself and anyone else. Vlad snarled, his face inches away from Danny's, before he pulled back and slammed his forehead right between the boy's eyes.

The blow left Danny dazed, his grip loosening as his knees buckled underneath him. Trying to gather his baring's around him quickly his switched both of his hands over to the one wrist, hoping to at least keep that one away from him.

"She and I will be happy together." Vlad snarled, shoving the boy back against the banister, making Danny bite back a yelp of pain as he was bent at an odd angle halfway over. "I'll be the perfect Father and she'll be the perfect daughter. It will be as if nothing has changed." He said, each word sounding more unhinged than the last while his forced Danny more and more over the railing.

"It's not going to happen like that Vlad." Danny hissed, his toes now only managing to scrap uselessly against the ground while he tried to tare the gun out of his hold. "Things have changed. Now she sees you for the monster you really are. It won't go back to before."

"Says you." Vlad hissed as he grabbed a hold of one of Danny's legs and yanked it up. "It's just too bad that you won't be here to see how wrong you are."

Danny's scream was cut short as his stomach dropped to the bottom of his feet when he was tipped over the edge, sent head first to the floor below.

(***)

"What a weird place to put such an important item." Sam mutter while the ghost behind her shrugged.

"Gotta admit, it's the last place that we looked."

Taking a quick glance around the bathroom they'd found themselves in Sam couldn't help but nod along with the words. It really was the last place they had looked.

Getting to her feet from her crouched position in front of the cupboard, she weighted the staff in her hands for a moment.

"So... I just break this end than and it'll snap Nights out of this mind control funk?" She asked arching a brow as she turned it over in her hands. "Doesn't seem like such a strong object should be that easy to break or undo."

"Hey." The ghost girl said, her hands coming up as she shook her head. "I have no idea how it works. But if we don't do something soon than it doesn't sound like they're going to last much longer down there."

Listening to the screams and explosions from downstairs Sam winched as she found herself agreeing with a ghost for the first time in her life.

Taking in a deep breath Sam held the object above her head, and smashed it against the tile flooring.

The orb shattered, an unearthly screech raising up into the air as the red mist poured from it before evaporating. The lights fluttered, going dim and then bright, completely dark and then back on. The very ground beneath their feet shuttered before the whole room seemed to give out a deep sigh of relief.

The two girls shared a look with one another, neither of them knowing if it was done now or not.

After a second passed with nothing else going on Sam gave a quick nod of her head.

"Let's go help the others."

(***)

Danny wasn't quite sure he knew how he ended up here. The last thing he could remember was being in Walker's prison. Now here he stood, a snarl on his face that was slowly melting away due to confusion, his hand raised above him with a surprising amount of ecto energy in it, and Walker almost passed out underneath his feet.

Jumping back into the air he stared down at the man, banishing the blast from his hand as he took Walker in.

He was beat up bad, even by ghost standers. Had Danny done that? Why? Even if he was mad at Walker for bringing him to his prison he wouldn't have gone this overboard.

There was something else though, not about Walker himself, but about what he was buried deep in. It looked like wood flooring, but it was missing that dull ecto glow that all things in the ghost zone had. Lifting his gaze from the body before him he finally took a moment to take in his surroundings.

His mind went into immediate panic. HE had no idea where this place was, or even what it had been. The whole building was pretty much destroyed. The cream-colored walls were blackened with scorch marks, or were filled with variously shaped holes, the walling all over the floor and filling the air. The places were the floorboards were still intake gleamed like freshly polished wood, but more of it was broken up, gagged edges pointed towards the ceiling as if they were trying to crawl their way out of their own debris. Even the marble staircase didn't go untouched, the stake white corrupted with black smoke and smudges, even completely broken away in some places.

Had he done this? All of this mindless destruction had been caused by him? How could he not remember any of it?

While he tried to shift through his mind, remember what had happened last before this weird black out, a familiar figure caused his whole body to freeze.

That couldn't be.

No. Nonononono!

"Danny!"

Forgetting everything else, where he was, why, how it happened, he pushed it all away. With a speed he didn't realize he had he was by the others side, eyes open wide in horror at the sight before him.

"No! Nonono! Danny!" Falling to his knees he didn't know what to do.

He didn't know if he could touch him, if that would cause the hunter more pain or not. He found his hands hovering over the body, his fingers twitching with the want to help but unable to figure out where to start. His vision became blurry, tears disrupting his view as he tried to wipe them away.

"No, no, no, come on." His hands were trembling as he brought them back down, trying to figure out what he could do, looking for anything to tell if the boy was alive or not.

He knew that he couldn't remove the large piece of wood that was pierced right through the hunter's stomach. If he did that than it would only lead to him bleeding out that much quicker. The nasty gash on his head as well didn't look very good and was bleeding freely over his face and pooling around the floor.

Cursing lowly to himself his hands twitched around the boy, never once settling on him. What could he do? He'd never dealt with this before. What happened? Who did this?

"Shit, shit, shit." He muttered under his breath, allowing the ecto energy to pinpoint itself to his index finger.

As carefully as he possibly could he cut away the board, not feeling confident enough to take it out but knowing that he couldn't leave it in. Once he'd finished the one side, he very carefully moved to the back, slowly cutting away the part there as well. Once he was done with both sides he moved his hand over to the wound on Fenton's head, pressing his palm against it and slowly cauterizing it. It was only when he did that, that Fenton jerked up, gasping in pain, his eyes blown wide.

Danny was startled by the sudden movement, but he was quick to resettle the dark haired male, not wanting him to aggravate his wounds or make them worse.

"Hunter calm down." He mumbled, his own voice shaking as he placed his hands on either side of the boy's face. "Look, it's just me okay? Come on, focus for me babe."

Fenton continued to gasp, his heartrate sky rocketing while he tried to blink his gaze back into focus. Danny continued muttering to him as soothingly as he could manage, trying to help him reground himself over the pain and panic that was no doubt flooding his system. After a few minutes Danny finally tuned in, his bright blue orbs finally seeing the one in front of him.

"Nights?" He gasped out, his voice sounding much to watery for Danny's comfort.

Pushing a smile to his quivering lips Danny nodded his head, unable to help himself from sniffling while a weak smile pulled over Fenton's lips.

"You're okay." He mumbled, giving out a soft chuckle that made him wince in pain before a nasty cough was pulled from his lips.

"Sh, Danny, sh." Danny said, his voice choked as he brushed the dark hair out of the boy's eyes. "You're injured so don't try to talk okay?"

A weak smirk pulled over Fenton's lips as he placed a hand over the others, his hold frail even if he was trying to hold on tightly.

"I'm more than injured Nights. We both know that."

Danny shook his head, bring both of his hand over to trap Fenton's in between his. "No, no. We can fix this. I can...I can do something I..."

"It's fine Nights." Fenton said, his breathing becoming shallower as he spoke. "You're safe, that's all I wanted."

"No. Fenton. No. That-that's not good enough." Danny said, shaking his head as the other smiled, his eyes slowly fluttering shut. "No Fenton, Danny stay with me. Come on. Please, Danny. Danny!"

His eyes were shut, and no matter how much Danny shook him, called out his name, he wouldn't open them. Fat, salty tears poured out from green orbs, staining the others cheeks as he wrapped his arms around him, holding his body close while the warmth of the blood seeped into his clothing.

This couldn't be it. This couldn't be how it ended. He couldn't just...He couldn't lose him.

"Danny!"

Danny didn't pull away at the scream of his name. He couldn't. He tightened his hold, sobbing against the others neck as a set of heavy steps made their way closer to him.

"What did you do!?"

When he felt the hand grab at his shoulder he snapped, whipping around and shoving them away as his eyes flared.

"Stay away!"

He was honestly startled to see Sam, her expression horrified as she took a step back. The ghost floating next to her with her hands over her mouth he recognized as the girl from the prison, but he had no idea what she was doing here.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, but Danny didn't care what they were doing here, turning back to the body in his arms as he gently ran his hands through Fenton's hair, pressing their foreheads together as his shoulders heaved.

"Is he..." Sam muttered, slowly coming up beside them and kneeling down.

Danny ignored her trying to keep the boy warm as he wrapped him up in his arms again.

"Nights, he's still, he's breathing."

Her voice was barely a whisper, excitement building up in her that had already died in Danny.

"But there's nothing I can do." He cried, his voice uneven with the shuttering breaths. "I can't..." His voice broke off into a sob. He felt useless, unable to do anything more than hold Fenton's slowly dying body in his arms.

"Yes, yes there is." Sam said, grabbing a hold of his shoulder and turning him to face her. "There is something you can do."

"That'll kill him!" Dani hissed, landing beside them as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You'd be saving one to kill the other. How is that any..."

"Dani." Danny mumbled, catching the girl's attention as she turned her gaze on him. "I don't care."

"Come on then." Sam mumbled, getting to her feet. "We don't have any time to waste."

Nodding his head Danny got up on his feet, carefully holding Fenton close to his chest as he did so. Taking a quick glance behind him he could see Walker finally getting up, looking a little dazed but no doubt ready for another round. They were going to have to get out of here fast if he had any hope that this was going to work.

Without waiting to see if he would change his mind Sam lead him towards the stairs, taking two at a time while Danny flew beside her, choosing not to walk and jerk Fenton around more than he already was.

As they reached the top of the stairs he was once again shocked to see his father, wrestling a gun from Vlad.

What on earth was going on here? Was this just some type of nightmare? Was any of this even real?

They didn't have any time to stop, although Danny would have loved to. But his father looked like he was winning and Fenton didn't have much time left. He didn't even know how far away this place was that Sam was leading him too.

"I'm going to help them." Dani muttered, breaking away from them in order to assist Jack.

"Thank you!" Danny called behind them, while he and Sam continued forward.

It seemed to take forever, but they finally appeared to get to the door of the room that Sam was talking about. She quickly pulled it open and Danny didn't wait for her before he was inside.

It was a lab of some sort, but he didn't care, his head snapping around to try and find anything that could help like Sam had said.

"It's the tubes." Sam muttered, coming in behind him and running over to a huge keyboard that sat just across from the tubes that she pointed out. "Put him in one and yourself in the other, with the doors closed."

"Do you know what you're doing?" Danny asked, quickly flying over to where he was directed while she shrugged.

"I'll figure it out."

That wasn't to reassuring, but if this was their best bet than he wasn't going to argue with her. It was best to let her work uninterrupted.

Going up to the first tube he opened the door, carefully walking inside and placing Danny down as gently as he could. Once he was sure that he was okay he stepped out, closing the door behind him as instructed.

Going over to his own tube he stepped in, shutting himself inside and turning back to Sam.

"Ready."

"Okay just a second." Sam muttered as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Nights."

His head snapped over at the weak call of his name, his heart swelling at the beautiful sight of the bright blue orbs squinting open. Placing his hands against the glass walls he crouched down, a shaking smile coming to his lips as he smiled at the other.

"Don't worry Hunter." He cooed soothingly. "Everything's going to be okay alright?"

"Ready!" Sam exclaimed, her hand coming down on the button while the machine hummed to life.

There wasn't going to be much time now. Dani had said that this was going to kill him. This was going to be his last chance.

Fenton still looked confused as to what was going on, groaning out painfully as he forced himself to sit up while Danny knocked against the glass on his side to catch his attention. Once blue locked on to green he smiled as the air around them lit up with sparks.

"I love you Danny."


	56. Chapter 56

Life Looks Better Upside Down

Chapter 56

Everything happened in a blur.

All of the colors around him spinning together to make a dizzying array of images that didn't make any sense. He could feel himself being dragged, he could feel himself trying to pull away, but to what and to where he had no idea. A name was falling from his lips weakly, but he couldn't hear what it was and his brain didn't seem to be able to remember it.

It was cold, everything was cold. The air, the ground, the very breath in his lungs, but there was a burning pain around his waist. A searing at his side that he wanted to go away, that he tried to detach himself from, that he tried to push away from.

A voice. A woman cursing at him, the burning at his side tightening as she continued to drag him away.

He didn't want to go anywhere though. He couldn't explain why, but he wanted to stay there, he needed to stay there.

But his head hurt, his chest hurt, his whole body stung in a way that he couldn't describe, that he'd never felt before. It was as if something had burrowed itself into every cell of his being, as if there was something foreign and wrong with him. As if he was an empty glass that had been filled with acid and was only just managing to stay stable.

Still he wanted to go back. No, he needed to go back to where he'd been dragged from. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something important back there, something very important. He just couldn't remember what it was.

God his head was spinning.

It was a nightmare to keep his eyes open. It hurt to blink into the dull lights that tried to break into his skull and crack it from the inside.

He wished that she would stop pulling. He just wanted to lay down and rest. To sprint back to the room or wherever he had been. To find what it was his mind was screaming at him to go back for. He wished that she would let him go. That the heat surrounding him would vanish and he could break free.

His limbs were feeble and weak though. His body was barely able to keep his legs underneath him as he was yanked along. The ground even seemed to be working against him, moving and shifting underneath his feet as the air vibrated with energy.

He eventually had to give up. To give into the claws of darkness that were scratching at the back of his thoughts. To allow his eyes to close and for the pain to fade away into the welcoming darkness.

(***)

"Danny!? Da- can -ar me?"

He woke up with a start, his whole body jerking upwards only to be held down not even seconds later. His stomach lurched, his head turning to the side just in time to vomit up what little he'd eaten in the last few hours.

A bright light was waved in his eyes, making him hiss and want to turn away but he was forced to keep his head in place, to allow it to burn his gaze as different voice flittered around his skull. When the light was finally gone he couldn't have been more thankful, but the constant swaying of his body made his head spin and the hands grabbing at him, hitting his face lightly over and over as they tried to get him to focus made a slow rage burn behind his tongue and added an odd weight to his limbs.

The more the voice spoke, the more of what they said didn't make sense, the more he was jostled around, he snarled, his voice coming out as inhuman while he swiped at the thing closest to him. He could hear a sharp scream suddenly fill the air, and something warm, and wet sliding down his fingers and his wrists, but it didn't make anything better. It only made everything that much worse.

Suddenly instead of one pair of hands on him there were countless more. Trying to hold him down, trying to press him limbs into the very ground and keep them there as he thrashed and screamed. The voices that had been a low hum grew in intensity, until they felt like they were digging into his brain, worming their way into his skull and destroying it from the inside.

His whole body burned everywhere that they touched, and his rage only grew to a rumbling fury as a bright green light broke through the dizzying array of colors.

He had a moment to wonder if the light was coming from him before a sharp pain in his neck broke his attention and a sudden dark cloud flooded his mind and pulled him back under.

(***)

There were flashes. Sharp quick imagines in his mind of familiar areas and faces. Of him being dragged away somewhere. Of him fighting against something. Of cold tables and floors and blindingly white walls. There were snippets of conversations he couldn't understand, of both familiar and unfamiliar voices overlapping each other and running into each other until what was being said was impossible to make out.

There was a place. A face that he couldn't make out but was always dancing on the edge of this thoughts, just out of his reach. Wanting to tell him something. Something important...

"I love you Danny."

Danny shot up from his bed. A scream tearing at his raw throat as the image snapped him from the darkness. A warm smile and bright eyes filling his entire being with unimaginable pain and loss.

He screamed, and sobbed, clawing at his hair and hoping to drown the words out. To chase them from his head as they played on repeat over and over again. As the memories and what they meant slammed into him unforgivably while tears poured down his face.

"No! Nonono!"

Somewhere to his side a door flew open, slamming against the wall with a powerful force before a number of steps where storming up to where he laid.

"This can't...! No!"

"Danny."

A voice tried to speak to him, the tone calm as strong, large hands wrapped around his wrists and pulled them away from himself.

"Daniel listen."

"He can't be gone." Danny sobbed, trying to rip his hands away. Needed to hold on to something, anything, to keep him grounded.

"Danny..."

"Bring him back! Please! Bring him back! Bring him back!"

"He's slipping. Tell Maddison we'll have to put him under again."

"No Danny! Nights! Come back! Please!" Danny sobbed, bringing his knees up, wanting to curl up into nothing and melt away as another sharp pain stabbed into his neck. "Nights please come home..."

(***)

It hadn't been long after he'd woken up that others had come to see him. He'd been expecting his mother to be his next guest, but he wasn't disappointed when it was Valerie and Tucker instead.

They'd always been good friends, to both him and Nights, but even their presence couldn't make him smile as they entered into his room.

"Hey Danny." Tucker said, a small smile on his lips as he came up to Danny's side, pulling up the chair that was set there for guests while Val undid the thick band that was holding his head down. "Heard you were awake."

He didn't know what he was excepted to say about that, so he just remained silent, turning his head to stare at his friend.

Tucker just sat there for a moment, a smile on his face as if he was waiting for Danny to say something. When it became apparent that he wasn't Val sat down on the arm of his chair. She arched a brow at the boy laying in the bed before she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're at GRR, in the medical wing, under heavy supervision." She said, the boy at her side dropping his smile as he turned to her.

"Val we're not supposed to..."

"He deserves to know Tucker."

"I know but Maddie doesn't want him stressing..."

"Too bad."

Val pushed herself off of Tucker's chair, walking up to Danny as he turned his whole attention on her. It seemed if he wanted answers he was going to have to talk to her.

"Why am I tied down?"

The words hurt to push out, his throat painfully dry. Tucker seemed to understand this, getting to his feet and heading out to grab a cup of water while Val took a seat on Danny's bed.

"You've been up a few times." She said. "But you were never...coherent. You'd be screaming and crying, calling out for..." She couldn't finish, her voice becoming tight as she blinked the tears in her eyes away. Danny could feel his own knot working up in the back of his throat at the confirmation that no one had seen Nights since he had. "You were violent and erratic. So they tied you down. That and um..." When she trailed off again, her eyes moving back over to him he couldn't help but wonder just what she was going to say. "You also seemed to have gotten some of...some ghost powers of your own."

"What?"

"Here you go Danny."

Tucker came back in, a cup in his hand and a strew in the other as he walked up to the two. Although water was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment, he didn't get to protest much when Tucker shoved the end of the straw into his mouth.

"Drink Danny. You need it."

Doing as he was told he turned his eyes back to Valerie, wanting her to continue.

"We don't know the extent of them yet but...you've got ecto laced fingers for sure. And apparently can radiate it from yourself. But as for flying and going through walls and what not we don't know. We couldn't do any tests when you were out of it."

Danny reached the bottom of the cup before he even realized it. Coughing up some of it a little bit he gave himself a moment to take in the information. He supposed that it made sense. He'd taken Nights life force, he was bound to get some of his abilities.

The feeling made his skin crawl. It made him want to scratch at his flesh until it bled. To rip it out and throw it away. It was bad enough that he'd pretty much killed the only one he'd loved. It was worse to be reminded that he'd taken his life by getting some of his powers.

"Get rid of them." He muttered, his fingers twitching against the sheets as he started to squirm against the bounds that held him down. "Get them out. Get rid of them."

His breath was coming out quickly, his body straining against the thick straps while Valerie pressed his head back against the pillow.

"Danny calm down."

"No. Get them out. I don't... Val please."

"Sh Danny." Val cooed, petting his head and laid next to him. "Danny I'm sorry but we can't."

"Tucker."

"I'm sorry dude." Tucker frowned, his hand coming down to grab at Danny's, giving it a tight squeeze.

Danny choked back his sob, dropping his head back against the pillow as unshed tears burned at his eyes.

(***)

"Danny?"

Turning his eyes away from the window he'd been staring out of, he instead turned towards the voice. His mother was standing in the doorway, and his eyes widened at the sight of a nasty scar that looked like claw marks resting over her left eyelid and cheek.

"Mom, what happened?"

Her hand raised self-consciously, touching the mark as a frown pulled at the corners of her lips.

"Never mind that." She mumbled, walking into the room and moving towards his bed. "I'm just sorry that it took me so long to come and see you."

"That's okay."

He'd really been hoping to get more answers from Valerie and Tucker when they'd stopped by, but after they'd set him off with telling him about his new abilities Val had agreed that maybe it would be best not to mention too much. His mother was really the last hope he had to figuring out just what had happened after Nights had set him in the tube.

With his bonds removed he was able to shift himself until he was sitting up, crossing his legs as he turned to face his mother.

"What happened? Where's Vlad? What about the girl ghost that we found? What happened to Jack? Where's Walker?" He asked, questions that he'd been wondering since he'd woken up spilling from his mouth as she took a seat next to his bed.

"Danny...the reason it's taken me so long to come see you is because I've taken on the responsibilities of one of the heads at GRR." She explained, making him arch a brow as he wondered just what that had to do with any of his questions. "You see honey, Jack's been..."

"Is he dead?" Danny interrupted, his stomach dropping to his feet before she quickly shook her head.

"No." She mumbled, unable to meet his gaze. "No. He's not dead he's just..." She bit down on her bottom lip, her hands coming up to press against her eyes for a moment before she dropped them back down. "He's just lost Danny. He can't...losing Nights hit him hard."

Danny's breath caught in his throat, turning his head away from his mother and back towards the window.

He knew that other people were missing Nights. That his friends and family were being hit hard with the news that they had failed, but he couldn't even begin to imagine how Jack felt. To not lose one, but two important people to him. One that could have been saved, should have been saved, but gave up his own life to save someone else. He would be shocked if Jack would ever want to see him again, or if just being in his presence would trigger the man.

"So I'm taking over his role for a little bit. Until he...until he'll be okay to take over again."

Turning his attention back to her Danny gave a nod of his head to show that he understood. She gave him a small smile, reaching out and taking his hand in hers.

"I'm afraid to say that Vlad got away. He blinded Jack in one eye and he managed to get away from Dani..."

"Danny?" Danny questioned, his attention caught as he sat up. "You mean that Nights...?"

"No, no sweetie. I'm sorry." Maddie said, bringing her hand up to brush the hair out of his eyes. "No, the little ghost girl that you found. Vlad's daughter. He named her Dani, with an 'i'."

The disappointment that crushed him not even seconds later was devastating. He sunk back against the bed as if he weighted a million pounds, unable to hold himself up any longer.

It had just been a moment, but there had been a spark of hope. A spark of hope that maybe Nights was still out there somewhere. That maybe he'd been okay. That maybe since Danny wasn't dead, healing him like he had hadn't killed the boy. But even though the moment had been small and fleeting, it felt as if his heart was being ripped out all over again.

Maddie let out a long sigh, petting his hair as she moved in closer.

"He named her Dani..." He mumbled, his voice oddly numb while her hand came to a stop. "After me." He continued, slowly turning his head to face his mother. "Because I'm his son."

Her hand jerked away from him, a look of absolute horror flashing over her face that made Danny's stomach sink. He'd been hoping that it wasn't true. That maybe Vlad had just been saying that in order to mess with him. Seeing his mother's reaction however all but confirmed what he'd been dreading.

"He told you?"

"Why didn't you?"

Maddie had the decency to look guilty, dropping her hands into her lap as she hung her head.

"Danny... Jack and I use to be married, we still are technically, but after he ran away with Phantom's mother I just...I was so angry. Vlad had always been a family friend and he was, well he was there when I needed... comfort. We ended up sleeping together one night and I regretted it so much that I didn't speak to him for three months. When he found that I was pregnant he wanted to be in your life, but I... refused. I was never able to stop loving Jack, I still love him, but that night. It was a mistake Danny, And the only thing I don't regret about it was that it gave me you."

That actually made a lot of sense. While Vlad had always been close with the family, he'd always been way closer with Danny than he'd ever been with Jazz. Danny could only imagine what that must have felt like. Vlad had said that he was in love with Maddie, and he'd probably thought that there was a future for them after she had slept with him. To know that Danny was his son and that she wanted him to have nothing to do with the boy just in case Jack came back must have driven him to try and create his own child. One that he could call his own.

It didn't excuse anything that Vlad had done, but it made a little more sense.

Still, he was nothing like his father. He didn't need Vlad to identify him than and he certainly didn't need him now. So what if Vlad was his biological father? That didn't mean anything. It didn't mean that Danny had to go down the same road.

And as angry as he wanted to be at his mother, he knew that he couldn't.

She'd been angry and upset. She'd felt alone and betrayed. Sure, she'd made a stupid choice, but so had they all. They were humans and they were bound to make some royally screwed up mistakes.

Shifting where he was he reached out for her. Wrapping her small frame up in his arms as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She went stiff in his hold for a moment, but in seconds she relaxed, her own arms coming up to wrap around him tightly.

They didn't say anything, they didn't have to, but eventually he pulled back and she let out a small cough as she blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to hide the tears that were building up in the corners. He waited for her to clear her throat, sitting back on the bed he was on as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"No one knows where Walker ran off to either." She continued, as if the last few minutes hadn't happened, but something about her words peeked Danny's interest. "Once he saw Sam and you with no Nights He just kind of disappeared. He went back to the area you came from and no one's seen him since." Maddie admitted with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I tried to find him, we've been searching the ghost zone, but wherever he is, he's too deep in for us to travel to. The energy just gets too strong for us to handle."

"But that can't be it." Danny muttered, the wheels in his head turning as he tried to put some of the information together. "We have to find Vlad, we have to find Walker." If Walker had gone back...Sam wouldn't have thought twice about checking the tubes to see if Nights had survived, she would have been more concerned with getting Danny out of there. But Walker...Nights was his grandson. What if he had gone back to look for him? What if he found him and then disappeared back into the ghost zone? Had he not just kidnapped Nights in order to protect him from all of them? What was stopping him from doing so now? Had they not just proven how much of a danger they were to Phantom? If Walker wanted to protect him than what better way than by placing him in the deepest part of the ghost zone? "Maybe...maybe Nights is okay. Or you know, not okay but maybe he's still out there...somewhere in the ghost zone. Maybe Walker..."

"Danny," His mother gently placed her hand on top of his forehead, the smile over her face slightly broken as she gave a small shake of her head, "baby I'm sorry but, but Nights won't be coming back. He's gone."

"How do we know that though?" Danny growled.

Maybe Nights had lived. Had anyone seen him? Had anyone even bothered to look? What if he disappeared back into the ghost zone and was just lost and afraid. What if he was just wandering around aimlessly, unaware that so many people were missing him? They could find him. Danny could find him and bring him back. They couldn't find Walker and maybe there was a reason for that. Why else would he just up and disappear when he had a whole jail to rebuild? Why would he just drop off the face of the earth if the one who had destroyed his family was still out wandering around freely?

The hope was back, stronger this time as Danny threw his legs over the side of the bed, only stopping when his mother's hand came down and wrapped around his wrist.

"Danny what are you doing?"

"We have to start looking."

"Danny no, please, lay back down. They're not..."

"He's out there Mom." Danny said, letting out a sharp hiss as he pulled the needle from his arm. "I know he is, he's got to..."

"Daniel Jackson Fenton."

He froze at the sound of his full name, his head snapping up to see his mother glaring at him from the other side of the bed. They just stood there and stared at one another. Eventually she sighed, her hand raising to press over her eyelids as she sunk back into her chair. Not knowing what to do and feeling guilty for adding even more stress onto his mother Danny stood awkwardly in place. Unsure if he was really allowed to move or continue on with his plan.

"Danny I..." She stopped, her hand sliding down to press over her mouth as she turned her head over to the side, giving a small shake before she dropped her arms to wrap around her. "I know this is hard for you Danny, I know that you loved him, but please. You can't obsess about this. He's gone."

Taking a step towards her Danny frowned. He couldn't just turn his back on this. If Nights was in his situation he wouldn't give up, and neither was Danny. Besides, he needed this. He needed something to hold on to. He needed the hope that the possibility provided. Nights couldn't just be gone. He was too strong for that. He had to be out there somewhere.

"Mom, you know that I'm going to do this anyways."

She glared at him, somehow the scar over her face adding to the menacing feeling behind it as she got to her feet.

"Danny, I'll give you some time to get over this, but I'm not going to let this take over your life."

Danny's eyes narrowed. He knew that there really wasn't anything that she could do if he really put his mind towards finding Nights, but if it made her feel better than he supposed he could give her the illusion that he would listen.

(***)

This time when he woke, it was slow.

It was the dull hum of a fan above his head. It was the soft murmur of a show he'd seen a hundred times playing in the background. Red behind his eye lids to let him know that there was a bright light in the room. A tightness around his finger and a twitch at his elbow that let him know that the needle had been placed back inside. When he felt a soft tightness that was crossed over his chest, his arms and legs and hips and head he knew that the straps had been placed back. The gentle breeze that blew over his still form as he slowly cracked his eyes open while his mind went numb to the waking world.

He didn't say a word. Not to call for someone to let them know that he was awake, or to the person who sat next to his bed. He just stared up at the ceiling, staring at the white boards above him, but not seeing them as his mind wandered away to nowhere.

Even though he didn't say anything, the body sitting beside him seemed to somehow feel that he was awake. They let out a sharp gasp, a hand suddenly grabbing his to tightly to be anything comfortable.

"Danny! Oh my god Danny you're awake!"

Sam. That was Sam's voice.

Although it sounded as if she was close to tears Danny couldn't look at her. He didn't even bother to try. He just continued staring blankly at the ceiling, his insides cold and dead as she clasped her other hand around his.

"You've been coming in and out of consciousness for about two weeks." She said, and he could feel her shaking as she pressed forward. "I was starting to wonder if you would ever come out of it normally or if the incident had turned you crazy."

He didn't respond. Didn't acknowledge her in away way.

"I...I knew you'd pull through. I knew you'd come back to me."

She raised a hand, gently stroking her fingers over his cheek and brushing some of his hair away from his dull gaze. He still wouldn't turn to her.

She'd known. She'd been there when that ghost girl...Dani, had told them what would happen if Nights got into that machine. She'd known that by putting Nights in there, he wouldn't be coming out again. She knew that if it meant saving Danny, Nights would do anything, even give up his own life.

She'd known, and she'd let him do it anyways.

"Danny? Danny please. Talk to me. Say something." She begged, tucking his hair behind his ear, letting go of his hand in order to cup both of his cheeks, trying to force him to look at her.

He finally did snap his gaze to hers. This sudden small action bringing her a bit of a shock before a small smile pulled at her lips.

"Danny I'm so glad that..."

"I hate you."

His words were final. Sharp. Delivering their blow without a single trace of remorse. The smile fell from her lips, her eyes filling with tears in seconds as her brows drew together in confusion.

"I-I don't understand. Danny, I saved you. You have to understand that. I did the only thing that I could do. I..."

"I don't want to hear it Sam." Danny mumbled, his voice hollow as his gaze returned to the ceiling. "I don't care."

Slowly her fingers slid off his face. He could hear her shoes clicking against the floor as she moved back, but he didn't care to watch her go. He couldn't even find it in himself to care as a broken sob passed her lips before she was out of the room. She'd taken away the only thing that he'd ever wanted in life. The only person that he could ever truly be happy with.

Once upon a time she'd been his best friend. Now he didn't think he'd ever be able to look at her again.

(***)

Danny couldn't stop staring at himself in the mirror. He hadn't seen what he looked like since he'd woken up. He couldn't understand why they had the mirror in his bathroom removed, but now, now it made sense.

As he stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror of his room at GRR, he could feel his lip quivering at the sight.

The incident, whatever had happened...it had change apart of his look. The front of his hair was bone white, all the way down to the roots. It contrasted sharply with the back of his hair that still remained raven black. And his eyes... Two mixed matched eyes stared back at him. One a clear ocean blue, and the other a screamingly bright green.

All he could focus on though was the green eye, the white hair...seeing Nights staring back at him.

Suddenly his own tears weren't his, they were Nights'. The anger that he felt at himself for losing the boy, for being weak enough that Nights had to sacrifice himself for him, it suddenly wasn't his anger anymore. His own hatred morphed the longer he stared at the ghostly part of himself, of the part that resembled so much of Phantom. Suddenly it wasn't his own guilt and sorrow and anger, it was Nights'.

Nights' tear stained face stared back at him, his eyes accusing as he stared back at Danny from behind the glass.

The questions of 'why didn't you save me?' 'How could you do this to me?' rang in his mind even if there was no one there to say them.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The words were repeated over and over, like a mantra, but when he went to reach out to hold the boy, his fingers hit nothing but smooth, cool glass.

His breath hitched in his throat, a source of rage overtaking him, blinding him in a wildfire of furry. Before he even realized what was happening his fist was smashing into the glass, over and over again. His mind didn't register the pain, he didn't feel the sharp shards that rained down on him and placed thin, deep cuts along his face and arms, he didn't feel the blood that trickled down his hand or the parts of the mirror that had cut down to the bone. He couldn't even hear his own voice as he screamed, couldn't make out the words that he was yelling as he beat at the missing imagine that had long since disappeared.

When strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him off his feet he struggled in their hold, thrashing with the want to go back and destroy ever little piece that was no longer there.

(***)

"Hey, come on. We're going to the gym."

Danny glared at the hand that lightly swatted at his leg as the blond male passed by his bed. Honestly the gym was the last place that he wanted to be right now, not when he felt like he was getting so close to finding Nights, but it's not like he could say no to Dash. He'd tried once, and all it had led to was getting thrown over the jocks shoulder and carried out to the exercise area anyways.

So, with a scowl set over his face, Danny snapped his laptop shut and threw his legs off the side of his bed.

Dash waited for him patiently as Danny took his sweet time in grabbing up his gym clothing, in all honesty he was being petty over the whole thing but that didn't stop him from doing it anyways.

"Kwan's going to be there. Maybe he can spot you and you guys can talk about those robot things you've been working on."

This news perked his interest, making him move much quicker and brought him to Dash's side in seconds. He'd been hoping on having a talk with Kwan about their new project. He wanted to see if those calculations that he'd given to the Asian male had help him with getting them into the deeper part of the ghost zone.

"Thought that would do the trick." Dash said, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips while Danny gave a hard roll of his eyes. "Come on."

Dash held the door open, always waiting for Danny to go first. The first time Dash had tried to leave the room first Danny had locked him out, and then spent the rest of the day on his computer trying to pinpoint any location Vlad could be. Needless to say, Dash hadn't been too thrilled about being locked out of his own room, but honestly Danny hadn't been too thrilled about having a roommate either.

When Dash had dragged him out of his own room the first night however and back into the medical wing, his mother had refused to allow him to room alone again. Dash had volunteered to be his roommate, and no one else was jumping at the chance to take his place. As Danny quickly found out people were still a little weary of him and his newfound abilities. He couldn't say he blamed them though. He wasn't Nights with these things, he had no idea how to control what little powers he had.

Pushing the thoughts from his mind however he walked out the door and headed towards the gym, Dash following behind him closely.

(***)

"Danny!"

He barely had time to stable himself before his sister side tackled him out of nowhere, nearly knocking them both to the ground. Just managing to wrap his arm around her waist he caught her, having to spin her a little bit before they both regained their balance.

"Jazz." He said, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips while she giggled happily.

"Just came to check on you little brother." She said, her eyes bright while Danny shuffled around the papers he had in his hands.

He'd been heading on his way back to the lab with the new test results, but he couldn't see what harm it would do if they spoke for a few minutes.

"How's life been?" She asked, looping her arm around his and pulling him in the direction of the cafe.

"Pretty much the same." Danny mumbled with a shrug of his shoulders. "How are the sessions going with Jack?"

It hadn't been long after the whole incident that Jack had come clean to his sister, while he had heard that it hadn't gone that well Danny was sure that it could have gone a whole lot worse. Jazz knew that the man was suffering from the loss of his child however and she hadn't wanted to make things worse, but she also didn't really want anything to do with Jack either. Still, the two had agreed that they would go see a family therapist together once a week and try to mend things up. Even Maddie tagged along every once and a while, sitting in on the conversations and bonding with the two of them.

Danny was sure that it couldn't have been easy for his sister, but he was sure that she loved the idea of knowing who her father was, and that he hadn't wanted to leave her for all of those years.

Still, at his question she let out a long sigh, her eyes losing some of their light as she gave a small shrug of her shoulders.

"It's slow going, but I think we're getting somewhere."

Giving her, a small smile Danny lightly patted her arm. He always knew that his sister was a strong person, he was sure that if anyone could bring their family back together it would be her.

They walked in silence, only letting go of each other when they got to the doors and Danny pushed them open. Once they were inside they moved towards the far corner of the room and towards the table that they had claimed for their own. They sat down on opposite sides of the table, taking a moment to look around and see who was hanging out before they turned back to each other.

"I haven't found anything." She said suddenly, and Danny couldn't stop himself from giving a small roll of his eyes.

"Jazz..."

"I tried following the money, but that trails gone cold. I have no idea just where he could be. It's like he just up and left everything."

"Maybe he's given up." Danny muttered, staring down at his fingers as he tapped them lightly against the table top.

"I don't think so. He was after Nights for almost nine years. I don't think that he's done just yet."

"Ya well, there would be no point in doing anything now would there?" Danny questioned, his gaze snapping up to stare at her as his brows narrowed. "He can't use Nights anymore. Whatever he was trying to do can't be done without him."

Jazz was silent for a moment, neither of them doing anything as they just stared at each other from across the table.

"Okay fine." She said after a moment longer. "So maybe he's just, done. Don't you still want to catch him? Make him pay for what he'd done? Hold him accountable for the lives that he's destroyed?"

"What would be the point?" Danny scoffed. "It's not going to bring them back. And even if we did, what judge in their right mind is going to put him in jail for killing ghosts?"

"He almost killed you."

"Ya." Danny said, unable to help the snicker that fell from passed his lips as he sat up. "And in doing so he ruined his own plan because Nights had to give up what Vlad was looking for in order to save me. Kind of an ironic twist of fate wouldn't you say?"

Jazz frowned, her brightly painted lips pressing thin together as she stared back at him.

"Danny, there needs to be justice..."

"What's the point Jazz?" Danny snapped, regretting it the moment that he saw her flinch back.

She was only trying to help. He didn't need to bite her head off for it. Everyone was dealing with this in their own way, and even though Jazz herself hadn't known Nights very well, he supposed it made sense that she couldn't help but want to bring in the man who had done this all to them if only for the people she knew that it was affecting.

Danny himself had wanted to find Vlad for the longest time, but as the days moved on to weeks and then on to months, he found his interest in finding the ghost hunter waning. The only thing that he was interested in, was finding Nights. He'd gone over and over in his mind on what he would ever do if he did find Vlad, but it hadn't been long before the scenarios had grown stale. He was being honest with his sister with his attitude. There was no reason to find Vlad. He'd been defeated, he was nothing. He had nothing. Rather than waste his time on trying to find the man, he spent it looking for the one who had vanished.

With a long sigh he brought his free hand up and rested it over his eyes. Taking a moment to simmer his anger he did nothing other than stare at the table for a few long breaths. Only once he was sure that he was alright and that he wouldn't go into a mindless rage did he drop his hand back to the tabletop.

"I don't...I don't want to talk about this right now." He muttered, forcing a small smile to his lips as he watched her shoulders relax. "Can we...can we talk about something else?"

"Well, Dani's fitting right in at home." She said, a smile on her face as she thought of the ghost girl that they had taken in. "Although she's a bit of a handful sometimes."

(***)

They were on the roof again. He actually liked it up here. Not that GRR was really that much of a tall building, but it was one of the tallest in Amity Park. He liked being close to the stars, he liked looking up and watching them blanket the sky above him. He loved the cool breeze of the winter wind caressing his face as he leaned over the railing. It was freeing, and for just a moment it seemed to take away his problems, allowed him to push them to the backburner and forget.

The guilt that would crush him seconds later for even thinking that trying to forget Nights was worth anything would always come back to kill him though.

He couldn't even find it in himself to sigh as his gaze fell from the heavens to the cold asphalt below them. The streetlights lit up the roads, bathing the snow on the sidewalks in an orangish glow that lit up the area around it.

Danny wasn't attracted to that though. He wasn't admiring the way the world seemed brighter in the winter. His gaze was on the road. On the soul sucking blackness that swallowed any light that dared try to touch it.

Before he was even aware of what was happening, he was falling towards it, his mind oddly blank even if his stomach swooped and Paulina screamed behind him. He wasn't even afraid as the road came closer and closer towards him. It was an odd sort of numbness that overwhelmed every part of him.

This wasn't bad.

He didn't mind.

Inches before he could meet his end however his body just halted. He blinked at the road that was a finger width from his nose, wondering if maybe this is what happened to everyone who did this. Maybe time just seemed to stop before they met their end. Maybe the last few seconds were all in slow motion or something. Maybe his life was going to start flashing before his eyes.

"Danny! Ohmygod Danny are you okay!?"

Paulina's words didn't seem to be in slow motion...

Slowly he reached his hand out, pressing against the hard ground and hissing at the cool bite it gave to his fingers. As he pushed himself away from it, he realized that he was floating. Turning himself right side up he looked down at his feet, tilting his head at the way that they hovered inches off the ground.

Tears sprang up to the corner of his eyes, burning down the cold of his cheeks as he dropped back to the ground, sinking to his knees as his hands pressed back to the ground to keep him from falling over.

It seemed even if Nights wasn't here he was still trying to save him. Trying to make sure that no matter what stupid thing Danny did he would be safe.

(***)

"Danny?"

Danny came to a sudden stop, his head snapping around to face the one who'd spoken before he froze at the sight of just who it was.

"Jack."

The grin on Jack's face was so wide that Danny was impressed that he didn't break his face in half, and the light in his remaining eye was so bright that it was nearly blinding. Danny could feel his stomach sinking down to his feet though, he knew that, that look wasn't for him. Jack wasn't seeing Maddie's son right now, he was seeing his own.

"Jack it's Hunter."

He man halted his advance, his arms that had been open in order to hug his son falling to his side as his face fell. The boy couldn't help but wince at the sudden change, knowing just how Jack felt in that very moment.

Although he had heard that Jack was back, he hadn't seen him since the whole incident that had happened, and he had a feeling that they wouldn't be seeing much of each other even if the man was now back to work. No doubt it was going to be hard for Jack to recover when the boy looked so much like his son, and with his new appearance it certainly wasn't going to make anything any easier.

"Oh, right. Hunter." Jack muttered, his tone flat as his gaze grew distant. "Right. Sorry my boy."

Danny couldn't think of anything to say as he watched Jack turn and walk away.

(***)

"Jesus, what happened to you?"

Although he had a feeling that those hadn't been the first words that the person had spoken, Danny found his mind slowly coming to as they continued.

"I swear. I leave you alone for five minutes and this is what happens." They sighed, their fingers running gently through his hair as he winced, his eyes screwing shut as he stared to slowly become more aware of the world around him.

As he squinted his eyes open he wasn't to shocked to see that he was laying down with his head in his arms on his work bench. These days it seemed to be more his bedroom than the room he shared with Dash. More than once he'd woken up to the blond dragging him back to their room or to a tool uncomfortably press into his face.

The gentle touch was a new and welcome surprise. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so content, and safe before. It was strange, the voice seemed to be able to ease the constant turmoil in his mind as he let out a long sigh and slowly lifted his head off his desk.

"Oh, there you are."

When he turned to stare at the one next to his side his heart just about stopped.

Two bright green orbs stared back at him, a soft smile on his face as he brushed the boy's bangs away from his eyes.

"Good morning sunshine."

Danny couldn't speak. All he'd thought of saying, all of the little speech's that he had made up. None of them would come to him as his mouth went dry and his world came to a screeching halt.

Standing right before him, lightly colored in a blue ting, stood Nights.

Before he could even think of what he was doing he was flying off his chair. Phantom yelped, both of them tumbling to the ground from the impact as Danny sobbed against his neck, holding on to him as tightly as he could. For a moment he did nothing else. He just hugged the life out of the one he'd been looking for, for so long. Eventually Nights even hugged back, wrapping his arms around him just as tightly. It was only than that Danny yanked himself back, tears still burning at his eyes as he drew his fist back and hit the boy underneath him as hard as he could in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Nights yelped, letting out a sharp hiss when Danny drew his hand back and hit him again.

"You-Stupid-Asshole!" Each word was accompanied with a hit, Danny spitting them out through gritted teeth before he grabbed a fistful of Nights' shirt and yanked him up.

Their lips met in a bruising, messy kiss, but neither one seemed to care as Phantom clung back to him, kissing him back just as desperately. When they had to pull away Danny pressed their foreheads together, refusing to move back more than that as their breath mingled together.

"Where were you?" He snarled, moving his hands up to rest on either side of the boy's face, tilting his head and laying kiss on every patch of skin he could.

Nights all but purred, his fingers tightening around the fabric he had a hold of as he leaned into the touches. After a moment he let out a long, content, sigh, pressing back until they were both sitting up.

"I'm sorry. I really wanted to come back sooner, but my grandfather..."

"Walker wouldn't let you?" Danny finished, unable to move his hands from the others face.

He was afraid that if he let go, that if he was no longer touching Nights, then the boy would just disappear, or worse, he would turn out to be some sort of hallucination and would fade away forever. Even as Phantom nodded his head, he still didn't let him go, simply going along with the movement.

"Ya, I actually just managed to get away. But Hunter, I...I have to let you know something."

A broken laugh pulled from Danny's lips as he pressed their foreheads together again. He felt like he was in shock, as if at some moment he was going to wake up and realize that he was still sleeping in his lab on his workbench.

"Hunter please..."

Pulling away he looked down at the other, wondering just what it was that Nights wanted to say to him as he slid his hands down to rest on the other's shoulders.

"Hunter I'm sorry but, but I'm going to forget you."

At his words Danny felt his head tilt. What on earth did that mean? Nights was going to actively forget about him? Had he met someone else down at the ghost zone? Was he just not interested anymore? Just what had happened in the past few months that he'd been...Oh...

Taking another look at Nights again in the dim light that was casted from the monitors Danny really took him in this time. The boy no longer had his natural human looking skin color. Instead it was a lightish blue, and seemed to radiate a dull glow. While his green eyes had a habit of lighting up whenever he was under emotional distress, now they just seemed to stay that way permanently. Even his hair casted a light glow that lit up a bit of the room around them. And the skin...

As Danny slid his hands back up Nights' neck, back up to his face, he could feel tears sliding down his own cheeks as he felt the ice-cold tempter nip at his fingertips.

Nights wasn't a halfa anymore. He was fully ghost. In less than a years' time, he would forget all of his living memories, he would forget everything about the life he had lived. He'd forget about his friends, and family. He'd forget about Danny.

"We, we don't know if that will happen." Danny muttered, reaching down to clasp Nights' hands in his own. "I mean you were a halfa, maybe, maybe it'll be different for you. Maybe..."

"Hunter." Nights' long sigh drew the boy's gaze up from their hands to his face, his heart breaking all over again at the look of resignation across the others face. Nights gave him a small, forced smile, releasing one of his hands so that he could raise it to slid behind Danny's neck. "I just came to say goodbye."

"No, no, no. Nights we'll, we'll think of something."

"Hunter there's nothing that we can do." Nights said with a small shake of his head.

Danny growled, his hands coming up to grip at his own hair, his mind running a mile a minute as he tried to think about what he could do.

There had to be something, anything that they could think of. Maybe he could make something? Or maybe, maybe they could just wait and see what would happen. Maybe if they just kept Nights under surveillance than they would be able to see just what might happen to him. But what if Nights did forget everything? Wouldn't he freak out over being locked in a cage?

With another hiss Danny shoved at the boy again, his hands shaking uncontrollably as he tried to sort through all of the countless thoughts in his mind.

"Why did you have to be so stupid?" He growled, his eyes staring down at the boy's collarbone, unable to look up at his face. "Why did you listen to Sam? Why couldn't you just have left when you had the chance?"

"You were dying Hunter..."

"So what!?" Danny hissed, his gaze snapping up so fast that it gave the other a start. "So what if I was dying!? I wasn't there to save myself! I was there to save you! To make sure that you were going to be okay! Why didn't you just leave? Why didn't you go when you had the chance!?"

"If you were in my place you would have done the same thing Hunter." Nights said, his voice oddly calm as he rested his head against the others chest. "Please. I've had nothing but months alone to myself to think about this. I can't argue with you right now."

Danny felt himself deflating. He felt all of his anger just leave him in one fell swoop. Bonelessly he dropped his head against Nights shoulder, his eyes dry for once as he stared into nothing. He didn't have it in him to cry right now. He couldn't be angry or upset. He just felt...numb.

All of this time he'd spent looking for Nights, all of the time that Nights spent trying to get away from his grandfather. They'd tried so hard to find each other, and in the end, it was only to say goodbye. What kind of screwed up ending was that? Why did they have to go through so much together just for it to end like this? How was that at all fair?

"Hunter."

Ever so slowly he lifted himself off of the boy's shoulder, staring down at the bright green eyes that were before him. Phantom smiled, it was broken and empty, but he still smiled anyways.

"I'm, I'm sorry that things had to end this way, but I want you to move on."

Before Nights had even finished speaking Danny was already shaking his head, the place where his heart rested feeling as if it had been scraped out and left gaping open and empty.

"No. We can...we can make this work." Danny muttered, pressing chaste kisses all over the boy's face again. "So you'll forget. I'll just make new memories with you. Your Dad and Mom were ghost and human. We can figure something out."

"Hunter..."

"I can't let you go Danny." He said, pressing a kiss firmly to the boy's lips. "I'm sorry but..."

Nights sighed, that alone being enough to make Danny stop talking and to just stare down at him. He didn't want to disappoint the boy, but he really couldn't let him go. He was sure that even if he tried, it would always be sitting in the back of his mind. The regret, the guilt. He would never get over it. Even though he knew that it wasn't fair to Nights, after all the boy wasn't going to remember him, was it really fair to force him to stay in a relationship with Danny when the boy wasn't going to remember anything of what they had been through together?

"Nights when you...when you forget me...do you...do you even want to be together?"

Maybe he wasn't looking at this the right way. Maybe Nights didn't want him to move on, maybe he wanted to move on.

At the very mention of it however Nights eyes went wide, his mouth sliding open for a split moment before a snarl pulled at his lifts and his eyes narrowed sharply.

"Don't be stupid!" He hissed, shoving Danny off of him and getting to his feet. "If I could change any of this don't you think that I would?"

As Danny got to his feet as well he couldn't help but let his eyes wander around his work table. So Nights still wanted to be with him, and he still wanted to be with Nights, but Nights was fully a ghost now and would probably forget him. The only thing that would be able to keep them together with all their memories was...

Without thinking about it Danny reached out for his knife tool.

"What are you doing?" Nights' question came out quickly, only his hand snapping out faster as he grabbed ahold of the wrist that was holding the knife.

"If I'm dead, then we can be together. You'll still have your memories of me. You won't forget me at all. It'll be just like before." Even though there was a smile on Danny's face, his hands still shook, and he couldn't find it in himself to bring his gaze up to see the look across Nights' face.

When the ghost tried to take the blade from him, his hold only tightened, his smile vanishing as his lips pressed into a thin line. He couldn't do this. He couldn't go on without Nights here. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. He didn't want the boy to be alone again. He didn't want to be forgotten. He just wanted them to be together. Was that really too much to ask.

"Danny, don't be an idiot." Nights growled lowly, his own hold tightening. "Don't throw away the life that you have. Do you really think this is fair to your mother? To your friends? To me? Do you have any idea how anyone would feel if you went through with this?"

"You know what's not fair?" Danny snapped, yanking his hands away and finally bringing his gaze upwards to narrow mixed matched eyes at the other. "To know that no matter what you do life isn't going to give you a break. To have to watch someone you care about scarifies themselves for you. To have everything that you try so hard to keep together fall apart all because of someone else. If none of that is fair, then why should it be fair for anyone else?"

"Danny."

He knew that he was being selfish. That he was being petty and that he was in the wrong. But it couldn't end like this.

"Nights I don't..."

"It'll be okay."

Dropping the knife to the floor he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He shouldn't have been the one crying right now. Sure, he was going to lose Nights, and that was going to rip out his heart in a whole new way, but Nights was going to lose everything. He wasn't just going to lose Danny, he was going to lose his father, his friends, every memory that he'd ever had, both good and bad.

If anyone here should have been freaking out, it should have been Nights.

Taking in a deep breath Danny calmed himself, reaching out his hand and intertwining his fingers with the other.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" He questioned, Nights' eyes widening in shock at the sudden change.

The white haired male let out a long sigh, the very action itself seeming to allow him to deflate as he dropped his head against Danny's shoulder. Without even thinking about it Danny wrapped his free arm around him, holding him close as he pressed his head against the boy's shoulder in return.

"Just...just stay with me?" Nights asked, his voice small. "My times coming up soon, I can already feel it, but I want to say good bye to everyone tomorrow. Can you stay with me through it?"

Turning his head Danny pressed a kiss against the side of the boy's head, tears that he refused to allow to fall burning at his eyes.

"Don't worry Nights, I'm not leaving you."

Even if Nights would forget him. Even if when he came back with no memories the boy only wanted to be friends. Danny would never leave his side again. He'd stay with him for as long as he could.

Pulling back just enough to be able to lock his gaze with the others, Danny raised his hand and gently placed it on the ghost's cheek. Nights smiled back at him, leaning into the hold as he allowed his eyes to slip closed for just a moment, savoring the last bit of contact that he would never remember.

"Hey Nights." Danny whispered, waiting until the boy's bright green eyes were looking at him before he continued. "I just want you to know, I love you too."

As the ghost's face broke out into a grin Nights let out a sob, covering his mouth with his hands for a moment before he dropped them and pulled Danny into a final kiss.


End file.
